Danny
by NashNurse
Summary: Hawkeye finds out he is about to become a father, and shortly after he discovers he is to be a single father. Hawkeye struggles to raise his young son while coping with his loss and trying to see his way through his uncertain future.
1. Chapter 1

_-sigh- I know, another story. But I've been toying around with this idea for quite a while and I wanted to do it. I'm sorry about my horrible updates but I really am trying to get them up faster... so sorry / _

_Anyway, this isn't really a romance, not until the very end anyway... well and in the middle... and a little in the beggining. Haha, I hope you enjoy it!  
MajorBaby_

_

* * *

"Margaret, calm down" Hawkeye tried to grab at his wife's shoulders but she jerked away angrily._

_"Calm down, how can you tell me to calm down? Damn it, Hawk, we can't do this!"_

_Hawkeye dropped onto the bed; tired of fighting. "Well we don't have much of a choice now do we?" Hawkeye rubbed his hands across his eyes wearily and looked across the room at Margaret who had her arms crossed defiantly and was chewing her lips in agitation. _

_"I can manage, Margaret," he told her softly. Margaret shot a furious glare his way before turning to face the wall in an attempt to control her emotions. _

_"You think this is all about you?" she seethed after a moment of silence. "The hell with you," her volume began to gain intensity with each word. "_I_ can't do this! _Me, Margaret Houlihan_; it has nothing to do with you! There is no way on earth that I can raise a baby!" _

_Hawkeye stood up and backed Margaret into a corner, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders, pinning her to the wall. "Well you're obviously going to have to try," he whispered softly. "We both are." _

_"As soon as this thing is born," Margaret paused and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the explosion she knew was about to come from her husband. "I'm putting it up for adoption." _

_Hawkeye took several quick steps backwards in shock. "'This thing'," he muttered in disbelief, quoting Margaret's calloused term for the child inside her. _

_Margaret tensed and looked at the floor waiting for his furious shouts; they didn't come and she looked up at his hesitantly. All she saw was sadness and she felt an unexpected pang of guilt that she hurriedly pushed aside._

_"It's going to be hard," he began quietly. "But I want this baby, Margaret. We can do this."_

_Margaret looked back at the floor shaking her head sadly. "You don't understand," she mumbled._

_Hawkeye watched her for a moment, holding his breath as he waited for her to say something. He knew her next words would determine the rest of his life. "Please Margaret," the small plea slipped through his lips with uncertainty. _

_Margaret looked back up at him and shook her head once more. She crossed the room and opened the closet door, removing a few of her dresses. "You don't understand Hawk," she mumbled reluctantly. "You never understand." _

* * *

Hawkeye closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to calm his nerves as he walked into the judge's office.

"Ah, hello Dr. Pierce," an old man nodded to him from behind a large oak desk as Hawkeye walked through the door.

"Judge Simons," he mumbled, staring towards the young couple seated in front of the desk.

"Dr. Pierce this is Brett and Marjorie Williams," the judge informed him, indicating the young couple. "They asked me to call this meeting."

Marjorie Williams glanced nervously at her husband who nodded. She stood up and reached over to shake hands with Hawkeye.

"Doctor, we really had no idea that…" she cut herself off and took a shaky breath. "We were only told that there was a child… I mean that the mother wished to…I didn't know anyone wanted the boy." She finished lamely. "The adoption agency we were working through never mentioned that the parents were trying to regain custody. Please believe that if we would have known that we never would have adopted your son."

Hawkeye still felt sick as he tried to piece together just what this woman meant to accomplish by telling him how sorry she was. He had spent the past eight months looking for Margaret, and then for the baby. Finally last week he learned that immediately after giving birth Margaret had signed documents giving the baby to the couple sitting before him. It was then that Hawkeye had gone to a lawyer, begging the man to help him get his son back.

"We want you to have your son, Doctor," Marjorie's quiet voice jerked him back into reality.

"I get my son back?" he asked uncertainly, wondering if he had misunderstood her. The couple nodded and Hawkeye glanced nervously at the judge, unsure if it was true.

Judge Simons nodded and Hawkeye grinned as he jumped up to shake hands with the couple once again. "Thank you so much," he mumbled, finding his throat clogged with emotion. "You'll never know how much this means to me," his voice was barely above a whisper and yet he still was having trouble steadying his voice.

Both Marjorie and Brett smiled; Marjorie's eyes were moist with tears. "Your son is in the main lobby," she mumbled. "We left him with Nancy Parkinson from the adoption agency. She says there are several papers you need to sign."

Hawkeye stood up and smiled gratefully. "Thank you both so much." He made his way towards the door and paused. "Did you name him?" he asked hesitantly.

Marjorie smiled, "We named him Daniel Benjamin… or Danny; at the request of your wife."

At the mention of Margaret Hawkeye felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and walked outside of the office and down the long hallway trying his best to steady his breathing.

He pushed open the large double doors at the end of the hallway and quickly scanned the large lobby. A middle-aged woman, looking very prim and business like, sat stiffly holding a tiny child. Hawkeye approached them rapidly.

"You must be Doctor Pierce," she said stoically. "I'm Nancy Parkinson…"

Hawkeye didn't hear a word; he was staring intently at the sleeping bundle in her arms he knew was his son. "Do you mind?" he interrupted her and reached for his son.

The woman smiled unexpectedly as she handed him the baby. "You haven't held him yet, have you?" she asked softly.

Hawkeye shook his head absent-mindedly as he stared at his son in wonder. "Hey Danny," he whispered, stroking the baby's cheek with his free hand. A drop of water landed on the baby's cheek and Hawkeye realized he was crying. He quickly wiped away his tears onto his sleeve and placed a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead.

"I love you," he mumbled. Hawkeye looked up and noticed Miss Parkinson had discreetly moved a few feet away, spreading out several papers on a coffee table. Hawkeye moved towards her, feeling as if his life was slowly being pieced back together.


	2. Chapter 2

"How are you going to manage?" Daniel asked softly as Hawkeye tried to calm his son down.

"I'll manage," Hawkeye replied firmly as he stood and began pacing the room rocking Danny back in forth in his arms.

Daniel sighed and stood up, walking over to his son, taking the baby from his hands. "I'm sure you will, but how?" Daniel put his namesake over his shoulder and began patting his back firmly. Slowly, Danny began to calm down and Hawkeye dropped into an overstuffed chair dramatically.

"I don't know dad," he mumbled in defeat. "I'm going to try and take him to the office with me. Maybe I convince Shelby to watch him while I'm with patients. I can pay her a little more…" He sighed and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "But first I need to buy a crib." He smiled and Daniel chuckled, handing Danny back to his father.

"I know I'm coming across a bit cynical, but I am happy for you Ben. You're going to make a great dad."

Hawkeye's smile faded and he looked down at his son who was contentedly playing with his fingers. "He has her eyes," Hawkeye whispered.

"Really, I thought they looked more like yours." Daniel prayed his son would change the subject.

"No, they're defiantly Margaret's. Her eyes are an icy blue, clear and…" Hawkeye stopped abruptly to keep himself from choking up. "Just like Danny's."

Hawkeye looked across the room at his father, the pain showing clearly in his eyes. "How could she do something like that; something so cruel and unfeeling?"

Daniel had to swallow his own personal feelings about Margaret and try and come up with something constructive to tell his son. "She was scared, Ben." He muttered softly, realizing it was true. "As tough as she always tried to act, she's…well… she's not. In some ways she's like a five year old, afraid of the dark. She's just not good at letting others know how scared she is..." Daniel sighed deeply and walked to his son, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"She was scared to death and she ran…"

"I love her," Hawkeye had stopped trying to control his feelings and was now sobbing quietly. "I love her and its killing me that she's not here."

* * *

Hawkeye walked into his son's nursery and shut the door quietly behind him. "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" He asked the crying infant. It had been almost two months since he had signed the papers to "adopt" his son and Danny was just beginning to sleep through the nights.

"You don't like this storm do you?" he whispered softly as he picked up Danny. Danny stopped crying almost instantly and Hawkeye sat down wearily in a rocking chair.

"I don't blame you; I don't like the storm either. Do you know why?" He chuckled as Danny reached up for his nose, trying to squeeze it. "It reminds me of your mom." Hawkeye sighed and looked over at a small picture sitting on a white dresser. He and Margaret were standing in front of a church. He had Margaret in his arms and she looked as if she was frantically trying to get out of his grasp before he dropped her. Hawkeye sighed deeply; she looked like an angel in all that white lace. Danny yawned and his comical face broke Hawkeye out of his reverie.

"Your mom never liked storms," he told the baby quietly. "They scared her but they always gave me an excuse to hold her tight." Danny was falling asleep quickly and Hawkeye continued talking about Margaret, his deep, steady voice luring Danny to sleep.

There was a loud clap of thunder and Hawkeye sighed as Danny woke up and began crying again. Hawkeye hushed him quickly and smiled.

"Well I guess I'm sleeping in here tonight." Danny closed his eyes and sighed and Hawkeye kissed his forehead softly.

"Sleep tight, Danny. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Hawkeye stifled a yawn as he stopped by Shelby's desk. "How's he doing?" he whispered. Shelby smiled; she was an older woman, about sixty-five. Hawkeye had known her his entire life and he hired her a few months ago as a receptionist after her husband passed away.

"He's sleeping," she said warmly as she stood up. "You don't have any appointments for about an hour; maybe you can sleep on the sofa in the back room." She suggested sweetly.

Hawkeye nodded and was about to go when Danny woke up again. "Don't worry," she said, reaching for the baby out of a small crib. "He's only hungry; I'll take care of it."

Hawkeye smiled his thanks but shook his head firmly. "Thanks anyway, I'll feed him." Hawkeye took a step towards her to take Danny but the room started spinning and he quickly grabbed onto the edge of her desk to keep himself from falling.

Shelby jumped up, placing Danny back in his crib. "Come on, Ben," she said gently grabbing onto his arm firmly and guiding him to the back of the office.

She led him to a small couch and once he was lying down she quickly ran back to feed Danny.

Ten minutes later she arrived back at Hawkeye's side and sat down in a nearby chair. He was staring, wide-eyed at the ceiling, dark circles under his eyes.

"Tsk tsk, just how much sleep have you had these past nights, Benjamin Pierce?" she asked in concern as she held a bottle to the eager baby.

"Not much," He replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "Danny keeps me up most of the time, and when he's finally asleep all I can think about…" he trailed off and sighed.

"All you can think about is Margaret?" she finished for him.

Hawkeye turned his head to look at her and smiled sadly. "You know me too well, Shelby."

She stood up and patted his shoulder. "It'll get easier, Ben, I promise. Just get some rest." Shelby began to walk back to the front of the building and she paused as Hawkeye called her.

"Shelby; do you think he has her eyes?"

His voice was so full of hurt and confusion that it brought tears to the woman's eyes.

"Yes, Ben," she said trying to hide her emotions. "He has her eyes."

* * *

Hawkeye drifted of to sleep and he woke about twenty minutes later to Shelby's voice arguing with a young woman.

"Dr. Pierce doesn't want to be disturbed right now." Shelby insisted.

"Please," the woman begged. "I'm sure he would want to see me."

Hawkeye stood up slowly, the voice seemed familiar but he couldn't place it.

"I'm here to see about a job, Hawkeye and I are…"

"Hawkeye?" Shelby interrupted her, knowing that Hawkeye only gave that name out to friends.

"Yes, Ben Pierce… Hawkeye… can I see him please?"

"Lieutenant Johnson," Hawkeye had poked his head around the corner and recognized the beautiful nurse he had known in Korea.

"Hello Hawkeye," she greeted, smiling victoriously at Shelby. "Please, call me Erica." Hawkeye smiled happily and extended his hand.

"Come on back to my office," he invited. Erica nodded and followed him down the hall.

Hawkeye opened the door to his office and offered her a chair in front of his desk. Then instead of sitting behind the large desk he pulled a small stool up and sat beside her. "I'm glad to see you, Erica, but something tells me your not here for a social call."

The young woman nodded and laughed. "I need a job." She informed him bluntly. "And I thought it would be nice to work with a friend."

Hawkeye gave her a melancholy smile and nodded. "Well, I do need a nurse and if you don't mind the slow pace I'd be all too happy to give you a job."

Erica smiled seductively and touched his arm. "I'm looking forward to working with you again."

"Ah," Hawkeye smiled, realizing what she intended in coming here. "Erica, a lot has happened since I last saw you…"

The poor girl's face reddened considerably and she looked down at the floor. "You're married?"

Hawkeye winced and shrugged. He didn't know what to tell her. He had never divorced Margaret; he hadn't heard or seen of her since the night she left. "Sort of… um well did you see the baby Shelby was taking care of?"

Erica nodded slightly, still looking at the floor.

"That's my son, Danny."

"Oh," Erica looked up, still slightly embarrassed. "Well, I still need a job."

Hawkeye smiled and looked up. "I'm still happy to give you one."


	3. Chapter 3

"He's only turning one, Erica. He's too young to even know what's going on."

"You're such a Scrooge!" Erica crossed her arms stubbornly and leaned back in the booth.

"Just finish your lunch; we need to get back to the office. Mr. Carmichael has an appointment."

Erica looked across the table in exasperation. Hawkeye had certainly changed since she had known him in Korea. When she had known him then he would have been ecstatic about his son's first birthday, insisting that the entire state celebrate with him.

"Please, Ben, you won't even know the difference, I'll plan everything." That was another change; he had insisted that she call him Ben.

Hawkeye sighed and nodded reluctantly. "All right, but nothing too big." Erica smiled victoriously as she stood up.

"Thank you Ebenezer, now let's get back to work."

* * *

Hawkeye sighed and nodded reluctantly as he looked around the park. "Alright, I'll admit it. You did a fantastic job with this party, Erica." Hawkeye wrapped his arm around her shoulders, much to her delight. "Thank you," he said sincerely, smiling down at her.

"Erica!" the young woman turned as she heard her name, and smiled happily at the elder Dr. Pierce.

"Hello Daniel," she greeted giving him a hug.

"Hey sweetheart, how have you been? I haven't seen much of you lately."

"She's been busy planning this terrific party," Hawkeye informed his father as he moved towards Danny, who was playing with a new toy on a blanket.

"Hey Buddy, watcha got there?"

Danny lifted up the brightly colored toy triumphantly and laughed. Hawkeye ruffled his son's scarce hair and began playing with him.

"He's a wonderful father," Erica commented softly. Daniel smiled at her and winked.

"You would make a wonderful mother."

Erica laughed softly and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Daniel. I'll get you some cake."

* * *

"Goodnight, Danny," Hawkeye whispered softly to his son as he lay him in the crib. "Happy Birthday, baby. I love you."

As Hawkeye walked to the door his wedding picture caught his eye and he picked it up. Margaret's birthday was the next day. Hawkeye sighed deeply and looked up at the clock; it was just after midnight.

"Happy birthday, Margaret," he mumbled to the picture, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly. "I love you, baby."


	4. Chapter 4

Just to clear up any confusion, Danny is two in he first section, and four in the second...I hope you enjoy it!!!

MajorBaby

* * *

"Daddy!" Danny squealed impatiently from the other room as Hawkeye finished up an appointment with a patient. Hawkeye sighed and smiled apologetically.

"Alright James, I'll see you next Monday for a follow up, but you should be fine so long as you stay off that foot."

As the old man hobbled out of the office on a pair of crutches Hawkeye sighed and ran his hand through his thick hair. "What's going Danny?" he asked as he walked into the adjoining room.

"Daddy catch!" the two-year-old pleaded, rolling a ball towards Hawkeye. Hawkeye looked at Shelby who smiled sweetly.

"Sorry Ben, I don't play catch."

Hawkeye chuckled and squatted in front of his son. "Sorry buddy, Daddy has to work." The little boy began to pout and Hawkeye poked his side playfully.

"None of that," he ordered sternly before breaking out in a smile. "Alright, what if we go to the park before dinner?"

Danny's face lit up and he bounced excitedly. "Ya!"

Hawkeye laughed at the excitement on his son's face as he tousled his hair. "Alright, the park it is. I won't be too much longer, okay?"

"Kay, Daddy!"

Hawkeye stood up and started to walk out to the lobby to see his next patient when Danny yelled loudly.

"Wuv you daddy," he mumbled with a lopsided grin. Hawkeye smiled and swooped down and grabbed Danny, swinging him around in the air, much to the little boy's delight.

"I love you too, little bear."

* * *

Hawkeye struggled to keep his eyes open as he looked down at the hole in the ground. The pastor's voice seemed as if it had been babbling on for hours. Four-year-old Danny leaned up against his daddy's leg sleepily and Erica stood close to Hawkeye's side.

She noticed Hawkeye sway slightly and she took a step towards him, wrapping her arm around his waist. Hawkeye accepted the support and comfort gladly, resting his arm around her shoulders.

The service ended and Hawkeye watched sullenly as his father's four best friends began to lower the casket into the ground. He squeezed Erica's shoulder absent-mindedly and she snuggled her head onto his chest.

Hawkeye began to make his way down the hill, oblivious of the comforting words from the other town-members. He kept Erica close to his side until they made it to the parking lot.

"I drove my own car," Erica said reluctantly as she separated herself from Hawkeye.

"Come back to the house with me," he asked softly as he picked up Danny and put him on the front seat.

Erica smiled softly, thrilled that he wanted her near him. "Alright, I'll get my car later." Hawkeye walked around to the other side of the car and Erica slipped into the passenger's side, pulling Danny's head onto her lap.

By the time they reached the house, Danny was fast asleep. The house was already crowded with well-wishing people from the town and Erica looked towards Hawkeye sadly. "I'll take Danny up to his room," she said softly. "Then I'll come bail you out."

Hawkeye tried to smile as he walked shakily towards the house. Erica managed to pick the small boy up and she proceeded to take him towards the house, cringing as she heard a woman's shrill voice pestering Hawkeye with thousands of questions about where certain items of food were kept.

Erica escaped upstairs and laid Danny on his bed, pulling off his shoes gently. "Erica?" he mumbled. She smiled down at him as she pulled a blanket over him. "Is Daddy gonna be okay?"

"Of course he is," she assured the little boy, touched at his concern for his father.

"Be nice to him, okay?" he pleaded. "Give him a hug, and tell him its okay. That's what he does when I cry."

Erica sniffed, her throat clogging with emotion. "I'll be sure to do that," she guaranteed him gruffly. "Now go to sleep."

Erica crept out of the room and made her way downstairs. She found Hawkeye in the living room, surrounded by three older widows, all of whom considered Hawkeye as their son. They were petting and cooing as if he were a two year old who scraped his knee.

"Ben, I need to speak with you a moment." She interrupted.

"Oh Darling," one of the woman responded. "Can't you see he's far too upset to discuss work?"

"It's perfectly fine," Hawkeye said, standing up while ignoring the women's protests. "Why don't we discuss this outside, Miss Johnson?"

Erica handed him his coat which she had already retrieved from the closet and they retreated outside.

"Thank you," Hawkeye mumbled out of obligation. They began walking towards the road but Erica grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop. She hesitated for a moment but finally leaned in and wrapped her arms around him.

Hawkeye was surprised at first, by the unexpected gesture, but he quickly warmed to the idea and returned her embrace. "Now what was that for?" he asked as they pulled apart.

"Danny suggested it," she said, smiling.

"It was a good idea." He responded, grabbing hold of her hand as they walked towards the beach.

"Do you like me at all?" Erica asked suddenly. She knew her timing was horrible but after four years of wondering she couldn't stand it.

"I'm married Erica," he said firmly.

"Oh really?" she had a short temper and she could feel her face flushing. "Then why have I never seen her? Why do you never mention her? What does Danny know about her? When I first came here and asked for a job I asked if you were married. The only response I got was _'Uh, sort of'._ She stopped walking and crossed her arms defiantly. "How can you be sort of married?"

Hawkeye pulled at her arms, taking her hand in his once more. They were almost at the rocky cliffs beside the beach and Hawkeye pulled her along the last few feet and sat down.

"When she found out she was pregnant she panicked. I suppose she didn't see herself as the maternal type. She knew I didn't want to give the baby up for adoption, so she left. I was looking for her for months but I finally gave up and began looking for the baby." Hawkeye sighed and looked over at Erica who was looking sullenly into the crashing waves.

"I lucked out and found Danny about a week before you came to the Cove. I really love my wife Erica. She left and that just about killed me. I don't…"

"It's been four years," Erica pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. "Won't you even give me a chance?"

"It's Margaret," he said firmly as if that explained everything.

"Who?" Erica asked blankly.

"My wife, Margaret Houlihan."

Erica's mouth dropped open in shock. "You and the major?" She frowned in disbelief. "I would have thought you would have killed each other before the honeymoon was over."

"I would have done anything for her," Hawkeye said sadly. "I didn't want to give up the baby but I don't know… if I had to choose, it probably would have been her."

Erica couldn't believe her ears. She knew how much Hawkeye loved his son. She had seen the way he interacted with the boy; she just couldn't imagine anyone meaning more to him than Danny.

"If she came back today, would you still want her? Could you trust her?"

Hawkeye smiled sadly and shook his head. "I don't know, but I doubt it." He looked over at Erica and touched her cheek softly with the back of his hand. She really wan an amazing woman. He was lucky she cared so much about him.

"Give me the summer." He bargained. "For the first time in my life I'm not absolutely certain how I feel about a woman."

Erica chuckled and smiled brightly, she realized it was hard for him to let go of his wife, if she could still be considered that, but Erica was overjoyed he was considering her.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny is six now... just in case any of you don't catch that. enjoy!  
MajorBaby

* * *

"Dad?" Danny walked through the door of Hawkeye's office carrying a small stack of books.

Hawkeye looked up from his paperwork at his six-year-old and smiled. "Hey Danny, how was school?"

Danny dropped his book in one of the two chairs in front of his father's desk and then climbed into the other one. "Are you dating Miss Thompson?" he asked bluntly.

Hawkeye raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned back in his chair. "Now where did you hear that?"

Danny just shrugged. "Eddie said that his mom told his daddy that you're dating Miss Thompson." Danny frowned angrily and folded his arms, looking remarkably like his father. "Now Eddie says that I'm getting a new mom. I don't want a new mom!"

Danny tosses his head defiantly and Hawkeye smiled slightly at the memory of Margaret doing the same. "I'm not dating Miss Thompson right now but I might." Hawkeye told his son bluntly. It had been almost two years since Daniel Pierce Senior had died and Hawkeye had continued putting off what Erica insisted was only inevitable

At the sight of Danny's downcast face Hawkeye felt a pang of guilt. "Don't you like Miss Thompson?" he asked.

Danny shrugged, looking at the floor, his legs swinging a few inches above the carpet. "She's okay, I guess."

Hawkeye sighed, he had a feeling of where this conversation was about to go. "Then why didn't you like her?"

"Excuse me, Ben." Shelby poked her head into the office room and smiled. "Mr. Dykes is waiting outside; he insists he had a follow up appointment."

Hawkeye sighed and nodded, looking towards Danny apologetically. "We'll talk about this later."

* * *

Hawkeye walked into the house and everything was pitch-black. He sighed deeply and climbed the stairs to his son's bedroom. Opening the door quietly, light from the hallway danced across the young boy's sleeping face and Hawkeye smiled slightly.

_"They always look so sweet when they're sleeping,"_ Hawkeye told himself. Just as he was about to close the door, Danny's sleepy voice reached his ears.

"Why did Mom leave us?"

Hawkeye closed his eyes and took a nervous breath before walking into his son's room and sitting beside the boy on the bed.

"She had to leave, son," was his gruff reply.

"But why, Daddy?" Danny persisted. "Didn't she love us?"

Hawkeye wasn't sure how to answer. He had told himself hundreds of times that if Margaret had loved him enough she would have stayed. But as Hawkeye looked into his sons misty eyes he knew he couldn't tell his son the same lie.

"She was scared, Danny." Hawkeye said, remembering his father's council, shortly after he had "adopted" Danny.

"Of me?"

Danny's bluntness caught Hawkeye off his guard and he nodded abruptly.

"How could she be scared of me, dad? I was just a little baby. I don't think anyone could be afraid of a baby."

The irony of his son's statement brought a smile to Hawkeye's face and before he knew it he was chuckling softly. "I was scared of babies once," he admitted to the wide-eyed child.

"Babies are so fragile and so helpless that it can scare people." Hawkeye was being hit with the realization of just why Margaret had panicked and he wasn't sure what to do with the information.

"Your mom didn't think she would make a good mother. She thought someone else could take better care of you."

Hawkeye smiled and tucked the blanket tightly under Danny's chin. "Do you understand now?"

Danny nodded and Hawkeye leaned over to kiss his forehead. "good. Now sleep tight, okay?" Hawkeye stood up and walked back to the door.

"Dad?" Hawkeye paused and looked back at his son. "I think she would have been a good mom."

The earnestness in the boy's voice brought a lump to Hawkeye's throat. "I think so too, son." He whispered before shutting the door quickly to avoid letting his son see the tears rolling down his cheeks.


	6. Chapter 6

Hawkeye cursed as he smashed his thumb with his hammer. "Damn fence," he mumbled. He looked over at Danny who was a few feet away, dressed in paint-spackled overalls.

"Hey Danny, could you do me a favor?"

The little boy jumped up from his current task of painting the wooden fence, eager to help his dad.

"I'm almost out of nails. Could you run down to Mr. William's store and pick some up for me? Just tell him to charge it."

"Alright dad! I'll be back real soon!" he shouted as he raced to the garage to receive his brad-new red bicycle. Hawkeye smiled at the boy's exuberance. He looked up at the branches of the large pine tree above him. He was glad for the day off from work, he had been needing a break for quite sometime.

"Danny!" Hawkeye called as the boy sped out into the street.

"Yeah dad?"

"Pick up some licorice on your way home alright?" Hawkeye laughed at Danny's cheerful nod. "Alright, hurry up. The sooner you get the nails, the quicker we can get to that licorice."

Danny sped off down the street, wiping the paint off his face with his sleeve. When he reached town five minutes later he skid to a stop in front of an old building with an array of hammers, saws, rakes and other various hardware items displayed in the window.

"Hey Mr. Williams!" Danny greeted the older man cheerfully. The old man nodded and muttered a gruff _hello_.

Unfazed, the little boy ran after him down one of the aisles of the store. "My dad sent me to get some nails."

As Michael Williams searched for the last place he had put his supply of nails Danny trailed after him like a little puppy.

"It must be real neat to work with all these tools, huh? I bet I would like a hammer like that. Maybe I could make a birdhouse. I would need some paint. Do you sell paint? Well it doesn't matter; my daddy has lots of paint in the garage. He wanted to paint the house this summer but he didn't feel like it. Maybe we could…"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Michael growled. Danny shook his head firmly.

"Daddy says I don't. He says I should…"

"Here're the nails," the old man growled, shoving a small box at the boy. "Now git."

Danny only smiled and waved as he ran across the street, unaware of the small smile on the old man's face. "Hey Miss Sanders," Danny greeted, bouncing into the soda and candy shop.

Hello Danny," the woman smile deepened as Danny surveyed the shelves full of candy in awe. "Are you window shopping?"

Danny shook his head happily. "No ma'm. Daddy sent me to get some licorice."

"Alright, do you want red or black?"

"Both!" he said after a lot of thought. As Danny waited for his candy he felt someone watching him and he turned around.

"Hi!" he greeted, giving a friendly wave to a woman seated at the bar, sipping on a soda. She smiled and waved back.

"Are you new here?" he asked curiously as Marsha Sanders handed him a small bag of candy.

The woman shook her head. "No I used to live here."

"Oh alright. Bye!" he was about to walk out the door when the woman called him.

"Danny, your dad is the Doctor here, isn't he?" The little boy nodded.

"Are you sick?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I just wanted to talk to him."

"Well he's home today," Danny said. "I can take you there if you want."

She shook her head slowly and smiled. "No thanks, I know how to get a hold of him." Danny waved once more and ran outside, grabbing his bike.

The woman pushed her drink away from her and placed some coins on the counter. "Thank you," she said distractedly. Her eyes were focused on the young boy with black hair peeping out from underneath a baseball cap. She smiled at his bright red shirt underneath his painted overalls. She closed her eyes, picturing his light blue silvery eyes; her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you going to finish the fence?" Hawkeye asked as he lay in the grass. Danny peered through the branches of the tree, looking down at his dad.

"I don't get paid if I don't finish, huh?"

Hawkeye laughed and laced his fingers together behind his head. "That's right. But it shouldn't be too hard. You only have a few more feet to do."

"I'm not painting feet!" the six-year-old laughed merrily at his own joke and was about to climb down when he noticed the woman from the soda shop standing across the street.

"Hi!" he greeted, waving cheerfully. She waved back, looking around the house for Hawkeye.

She had almost made it to the freshly-painted fence when Hawkeye sat up suddenly, his eyes boring through her.

"Hello," she greeted stiffly. Hawkeye stood up and folded his arms.

"What are you doing here?" his voice was low and menacing, but inside he felt like jelly. He could barely breathe and a million thoughts raced around in his head.

"She said she wanted to see you," Danny piped in. "I guess I forgot to tell ya." The little boy swung down from the tree and picked the large paintbrush back up.

"Danny, go up to your room." Hawkeye ordered sternly. A bit frightened by his father's tone of voice, Danny jumped up quickly and headed inside, carefully eyeing the pretty stranger.

Once he was inside Hawkeye glared at Margaret a few moments before speaking. "So you've been stalking my son?"

"For god's sake, Hawkeye. I saw him in Maude's soda shop. Where is Maude, by the way?"

"She died over three years ago," Hawkeye replied bluntly, knowing the effect the news would have on the woman in front of him.

Margaret's face was contorted with pain and he watched her struggle to keep her emotions in check. When Margaret had first moved to Crabapple Cove she and the woman had struck up a friendship immediately. Maude had always referred to Margaret as the daughter she never had, and Margaret felt just as strongly about the older woman.

"I see," she said finally, wanting to cry but not allowing herself to fall apart. She needed to keep her mind in one piece for what she was about to say.

"I'm here to see Danny." Margaret informed him bluntly.

"Forget about it, Margaret," Hawkeye refused stubbornly.

"Damn it, Pierce," Margaret crossed her arms as well, her stance matching Hawkeye's exactly. "You know full well I can be just as stubborn as you. I did not come all the way here just for you to tell me I can't see him. He's my son too, you know!"

"Not anymore!" Hawkeye lost it completely. "He stopped being your son the second you signed those adoption papers!"

Margaret uncrossed her arms and rolled her eyes in frustration. "So you're not going to let me anywhere near him?"

Danny burst out of the house and stopped so suddenly on the porch that he almost lost his balance.

"I thought I told you to go to your room." Hawkeye said in exasperation.

"Daddy, I need to talk to you. It's real important."

Hawkeye sighed and walked over to the porch and Margaret watched the two with a melancholy interest. Danny really did look quite a bit like his father. He had a lot of Daniel in him too. Margaret looked around the house curiously, wondering where Daniel was.

"What is it, Danny?" Hawkeye asked impatiently.

"I went to my room like you said," the boy began, chewing on his lip nervously. "I was even sitting on my bed real straight." Hawkeye sighed wishing his son would get to the point.

"But I kinda got bored and I was looking at the stuff on my dresser. That's the lady in the picture," he said softly, pointing to Margaret. "You said she was my mommy."

Hawkeye felt his throat tighten as he looked into his son's confused eyes. "Yeah Danny, that is your mom. But she's not going to stay."

Hawkeye felt a pang of guilt at Danny's wounded expression. "She doesn't even want to talk to me?" he asked woefully.

Hawkeye considered letting Margaret stay but the thought of what would happen when she left again was enough for him to shake his head. "Just go back inside, little bear."

Danny turned and began to walk inside with his shoulders drooped. He turned his head and looked at Margaret who smiled. He felt a bit of mistrust towards his father at that point. If she didn't want to talk to him then why was she there? Why was she being so nice?

"You're my mommy, aren't you?" he called. Margaret gasped a bit, surprised at his bluntness, but she managed to nod.

"Do you want some lemonade?" he invited uncertainly. "I helped Daddy make it last night."

Margaret looked at Hawkeye who shot her an angry glare but then nodded in resignation. "I'd love to." She responded, a hint of joy breaking into her voice.

Margaret opened the gate cautiously, watching for areas of wet paint and she made her way across the yard to where Danny was waiting at the porch. When she made it to the porch Danny reached out his paint-covered hand and happily led her into the house.


	8. Chapter 8

"This is my room," Danny announced proudly. Margaret walked into the room and smiled.

"Very nice," she commented absent-mindedly. She was amazed at how their old storage room had been turned into a little boy's bedroom. Outside the large window there was a large tree with toys caught in the branches. It was obvious Danny was accustomed to climbing even the highest branches. A wooden bunk-bed was in the corner, the top bunk covered with stuffed animals. There was a dresser next to it and Margaret caught site of their wedding picture and she gasped slightly.

"Has this always been in here?" Margaret asked the little boy as she picked up the frame.

Danny shrugged. "I dunno. I don't remember nothin' from when I was a little kid." Margaret chuckled and nodded wondering if Hawkeye had ever looked at the picture in the past years.

"Promise not to tell, Dad?" Danny asked suddenly, a worried frown on his little face.

"Tell him what?" Margaret asked in confusion.

"Just promise," he persisted.

Margaret shrugged, "Alright, I promise."

Danny smiled in satisfaction and climbed up to the top bunk. He tossed several teddy-bears and other toys aside to reveal a two-foot square cardboard box. He pushed in to the edge of the bed and looked at Margaret expectantly.

After a moment of silence Margaret stepped beside the bed. "What is this?" she asked the little boy.

"It's for you," he said simply.

Not sure what to say, Margaret lifted the box down, finding it weighed around five pounds. She sat it on the floor and watched as Danny climbed back down, an excited smile on his face.

"Open it!" he urged.

Margaret smiled, extremely curious as to what Danny had decided to give her. She sat down on the bed and lifted the flaps of the box. Inside she discovered a dozen or so small packages, wrapped haphazardly in tissue paper of different colors.

Margaret reached for one on top, wrapped in pink. She unwrapped it to find a small lace handkerchief.

"Danny!" she exclaimed in shock. "This is beautiful."

The little boy, who was sitting on his knees beside the box, grinned happily. "Open another one." He leaned over and dug for another package, his small body disappearing into the box.

"Here," he offered her a package that was wrapped in white, the edges ripped and soiled from excessive handling.

Margaret took off the paper and found a small wooden jewelry box, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, painted in bright colors.

"I made it," Danny told her triumphantly.

Margaret felt tears building up in her eyes and she sniffed. "It's a perfect gift," Margaret mumbled as she looked over at the little boy. "How did you get all these things?" she asked softly.

"I saved 'em," he replied simply. "Dad always gives me money when I do my chores. So I got you stuff for Christmas and your birthday and stuff like that for when you came home."

Margaret felt her throat tighten and she looked through her tears at the little boy. "Thank you Danny," she whispered. "I love them."

Not wanting to see his mom so emotional Danny dove into the box again and pulled out another lopsided package and thrust it towards her.

Margaret accepted it and began to animatedly talk with the child as she began to piece together a relationship with the son she had never had the chance to know.

* * *

"Please, daddy?" Danny begged, his blue eyes looking sadly up at Hawkeye. "Please, please, please, pretty please with sugar on top?"

"It's alright, Danny," Margaret interrupted the little boy's plea. "I can see you tomorrow."

"But where will you eat?" he persisted.

Margaret smiled softly. "I can eat at the diner. Really, it's okay I can see you later."

Danny left his father's side and walked to Margaret lacing his fingers through her's. "But I want you to have dinner with us!"

"You can stay," Hawkeye granted reluctantly. At first Margaret looked up at him hopefully, wondering if he would show her any kind of acceptance in his gaze. Her glance was met with defiance and anger and she quickly looked down at the little boy.

"Well it looks like I'm staying for dinner."

"Yay!" Danny hugged Margaret quickly before running into the kitchen. "I'm gonna make a cake," he announced, bringing a smile to Margaret's face.

"Hang on, buddy." Hawkeye quickly walked in after him leaving Margaret alone in the living room. She sighed and began to walk slowly around the house, surveying the many framed pictures that were cluttered on every piece of furniture.

One photo, on a small end table accompanied only by a reading lamp, held Danny and Daniel Sr. as it's subject. Margaret looked around the room curiously as if Daniel would appear by magic. She heard Danny laughing loudly so she walked back to the kitchen and pushed the swinging door open to reveal Danny on the floor and Hawkeye above him, both in the middle of a wrestling match.

"Stop daddy!" he shrieked when Hawkeye began to tickle him. "Stop, stop!" Hawkeye let the little boy up and Danny quickly jumped to his feet and ran to the other side of the kitchen table to avoid any unexpected attacks.

"Is there something you needed?" Hawkeye asked as he stood up, his smile instantly gone.

"I thought I could help." She offered, becoming increasingly angry and even disappointed with Hawkeye's attitude.

"I've got it." Hawkeye replied coolly as he began to pull items from the refrigerator.

"Come on," Danny walked over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the living room. "I'll beat you at poker."

Margaret chuckled and let the boy lead her into the next room where he grabbed a deck of cars off the dinning room table and began to clumsily shuffle them.

"What makes you think you're going to beat me?" she asked, a smile on her face, as she sat down at the table.

"Oh, I beat everybody," Danny informed her simply.

"Well we'll see about that," she said teasingly. "I've played an awful lot of poker."

Danny only grinned as he dealt her seven cards. "Five card draw, nothing is wild." He rattled off. Margaret laughed, finding it odd that such a young boy obviously knew so much about poker.

"What are we playing for?" Margaret asked suspiciously, wondering if Hawkeye allowed the boy to play for money.

Danny reached to the end of the table and pulled over a bowl of peanuts and counted out thirty for each. "Dad doesn't let me play for money unless it's with him, Mr. Carlisle, or Mr. Jackson."

Margaret recognized the men as Hawkeye's closest friends. She wondered if he had convinced them to give Danny his money back when he lost.

"Ante," he reminded her with a happy grin on his face. Margaret threw in one of her peanuts. Margaret looked at her cards for a moment before throwing in four more peanuts.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Danny asked with a grin. Margaret smiled and nodded.

"Alright, I'll raise you three." The little boy counted out seven peanuts and placed them in the growing heap. Margaret suspiciously surveyed him and then put in three more peanuts.

"I'll take three," she laid three of her cards down and Danny quickly dealt her three more.

"Dealer takes one," he announced as he replaced on of his cards. Margaret watched him in surprise as he giggled.

"Alright, how about five more?" Margaret laid out five more nuts and Danny quickly matched those and added ten more.

"Ten? Are you sure?" Margaret asked him hesitantly, certain that the boy was unaware of what he was doing.

"I'm sure." He said, smiling happily. Margaret had seen that same grin so many times during a late nightshift in post-op. Hawkeye would pull up a chair beside the desk and take a deck of cards out of his pocket. They usually played for tounge depressors or cotton balls. But the smile that would spread across Hawkeye's face every time he knew he had her beat mirrored the grin that was on Danny's face now.

"I'm out," Margaret said in defeat. This was, after all, Hawkeye's son and he probably could play poker almost as well as his father.

Danny giggled mischievously as he scooped up the peanuts. "Well what did you have?" Margaret asked as she leaned back in the chair.

"I don't have to show you." He said stubbornly, a smile on his face. "But I guess I will." The six-year-old flipped the cards over dramatically to reveal a pair of two's, a three, seven, and nine.

"I had two pairs!" Margaret complained as Danny laughed jubilantly.

"I told you I beat everybody!" he cheered.

Margaret gave in and laughed with him. "I guess you warned me," she admitted. "Why is it you're dad only let's you play for money with Mr. Carlisle or Mr. Jackson?"

"Cause he thinks it's funny when I beat 'em."

"Let's keep playing," Danny begged and Margaret nodded willingly.

"But don't think I'll fold so easily this time," she cautioned with a smile.

Danny only grinned, making Margaret feel as if that's exactly what he wanted her to do.

* * *

He certinly is HAwkeye's son isn't he? I'm falling for that adorable little boy! lol. I hope eveyone enjoyed the cahpter! I hope to update fairly soon!

-Mrs.Tuttle


	9. Chapter 9

Just as dinner was almost ready the doorbell rang and Danny jumped up from the table. "I'll get it," he shouted towards Hawkeye who was till in the kitchen. Danny opened the door to reveal Erica, dressed in a navy blue evening gown, an upset expression on her face.

"Is your father here, Danny?" she asked, obviously irritated over something.

"He's in the kitchen." Danny scrunched up his nose at the woman. "Is daddy in trouble?" he asked, Erica seemed awfully mad to him.

Erica laughed and rolled her eyes. "It depends on his excuse." She told the little boy. Erica walked across the living room towards the kitchen but stopped in shock as she saw Margaret seated at the dining room table.

"Major," she said in shock, trying to formulate a sentence and close her gapping mouth.

"Erica?" Margaret stared at the young woman in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Dinner's ready," Hawkeye walked through the door, carrying a large pot. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Erica, surveying her unusually fancy clothing.

"Oh damn it," he quickly sat the pot down on the table and walked over to Erica and grabbed her shoulders. "I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I completely forgot."

"How could you forget?" she snapped. "I spent all week looking forward to this; I even bought a new dress."

"Jesus, Erica, I'm so sorry! I was just really distracted today while—"

"While you were busy playing house?" she hissed, softly enough so Margaret couldn't hear.

Hawkeye glanced at Margaret who still had a startled expression on her face. He took a firm hold of Erica's arm and guided her to the front porch.

""She just showed up out of the blue," Hawkeye told her once they were outside. "It completely threw me off. I'm so sorry I forgot."

Erica sighed. "I suppose it's alright," she mumbled. "How is Danny taking it?"

Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about this right now."

Erica nodded sullenly, looking down at her dress. "I guess I better head home before I ruin this dress."

"Stay please," Hawkeye reached out with both hands and grabbed her shoulders firmly. The desperate look in his eyes brought an unexpected feeling of joy and Erica found herself nodding.

"I suppose I can stay."

* * *

Margaret shook herself out of her trance and looked over at Danny who was trying to inconspicuously peer out the front window at Hawkeye and Erica.

"Don't spy on them," Margaret instructed with a little laugh. Danny came back over to her, his arms crossed and a pout on his face.

"I don't like her," Danny said firmly.

Margaret looked at him in surprise. "Why not?"

Danny shrugged. "I dunno, I just don't, that's all." Danny looked up at Margaret curiously. "You know her, huh?"

"Why would you say that?"

"'Cause you knew her name."

Margaret smiled and nodded. "I knew her a long time ago; several years before you were even born." Margaret sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Your dad really liked her."

"They were datin' then." Danny informed her. "Daddy told me so."

Margaret nodded sullenly. "Are they dating now?"

"Daddy said they weren't, but that was a long time ago." Danny surveyed Margaret's saddened expression with interest. "I don't want them to date either." He told her bluntly.

Margaret laughed tensely, finding it unnerving that the little boy could read her so easily; he certainly was like his father.

Hawkeye walked back inside, Erica trailing after him. "Erica's staying for dinner," he announced. Danny turned his head away from his father and scowled. He wanted to have dinner with his mom and he wasn't happy that he was going to have to share her attention.

Hawkeye walked back into the kitchen to grab four plates and the two women sat down silently as Danny set the silverware on the table. Hawkeye returned with the plates and sat down beside Erica. Danny shot an angry look to his father and then sat down beside Margaret, pushing his chair as close as possible to Margaret's.

"So what have you been doing all these years?" Erica asked, trying to strike up a conversation, and feeling incredibly stupid.

Margaret did her best to keep her offence in check and smiled tightly. "I'm a waitress at a diner near my apartment."

Hawkeye's head jerked upward from his plate of spaghetti. "You don't work as a nurse?" he asked in shock. Margaret shook her head, surprised Hawkeye was even interested.

"So where do you live?" Erica persisted, determined to keep some sort of conversation going.

"Philadelphia." She responded, refusing to offer any more information.

Erica sighed, tired of trying to pull Margaret into a conversation. "I've never been to Philadelphia. Have you?" she turned her attention upon Hawkeye, giving him a warning glare, indicating that he had better come up with something interesting to say.

"I was there once, over fifteen years ago." Hawkeye was about to stop his sentence but a deploring look from Erica changed his mind and he smiled at the girl, she forever wanted to make people feel at ease.

"I was there with Jake, you've met him haven't you babe?" he was addressing his question at Erica. Danny sighed dramatically, trying to point out that he thought the conversation was boring.

Margaret tried to listen to Hawkeye's stories but it seemed to her that he was purposely picking events that would only be interesting to someone who had been there as well, Erica, as it turned out was able to understand and laugh at every story he told.

They finished dinner at what seemed like an eternity to Margaret. Even Danny wasn't any diversion from the obvious tension. He refused to eat his food, only stirring his noodles around his plate, pouting over some unknown thing.

Erica stood up and excused herself as she walked towards the bathroom. Margaret stood up as well and offered to clean. Hawkeye nodded and pushed his plate towards her.

Danny jumped up to help his mom and soon the dishes were picked up and Danny ran upstairs o wash his face. Margaret was about to walk into the kitchen when she noticed a small bread plate to Hawkeye's left.

"Could you hand me that?" she requested. Hawkeye looked at her blankly for a moment and then scooted his chair inward so she could retrieve it herself. Margaret angrily squeezed by and grabbed the dish. She backed up and she brushed against him, resting her hand momentarily on his arm. Her anger instantly melted away and she had to force herself to keep moving, the familiar feel of his skin under hers made her fingertips tingle and it brought tears to her eyes. She looked down at him and he shot her a cold d stare. She ripped her hand away and made her way into the kitchen. Once in the safety of the other room she leaned against the counter and let the tears come.

She needed him by her side. She had known that since the moment she had walked out of the house, almost seven years ago. But one desperate act had shattered every hope of her "happily ever after". She knew Hawkeye would never forgive her for what she had done. But how could she blame him when she couldn't even forgive herself?

For the past seven years she walked around with a heavy heart, unable to even enter a hospital because of the horrid memories it brought back, not just of the war but of the day she had lost her son.


	10. Chapter 10

Danny bounced into the kitchen and Margaret hurriedly wiped away her tears.

"What's wrong?" he asked, skidding to a halt.

"Nothing," Margaret faked a smile and turned back to the dishes.

Danny had seen his mom wipe away tears and he frowned and glared at the kitchen door, knowing his father was on the other side.

"I get sad when Daddy makes me do dishes too"

Margaret laughed at the child's assumption"I'm fine," she assured him.

"Can I help you?" he asked cheerily. Normally Danny hated washing the dishes but he hated seeing people sad even more.

Margaret nodded and Danny pulled a chair over to the sink from the kitchen table. He picked up the towel by the sink and Margaret began to hand him the wet dishes.

"So do you get free food?"

Margaret looked at her son curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"You told Miss Thompson that you work at a diner. Do you get free food?"

Margaret nodded. "Sometimes," she replied, not telling the boy that the only time she got a decent meal was when she would have dinner with her perverted boss.

"I like that!" he exclaimed exuberantly. "Maybe when I'm all grown up I'll be a waitress like you!"

Margaret chuckled. "You wouldn't be a _waitress,_ you'd be a _waiter."_ She corrected. "And I'm sure there are plenty of jobs you would like better than cleaning up people's messes."

"I had to write a paragraph saying what I wanted to be when I grow up. I got an _A_." he informed her, sticking his chest out proudly.

"Well, what did you say you wanted to be?"

"A grandpa." He said simply.

Margaret looked down at the little boy in shock. "What?"

"I want to be a grandpa." He repeated. "Then I can take my grandkids fishing, even the girls. And we'd go camping and I'd tell them funny stories about when I went camping with my grandpa."

Margaret smiled gently, wishing she had amusing stories about her grandfather. She had hardly known the man, and what little she did know about him she had never liked.

"Where is your Grandpa?" Margaret asked.

Danny looked at her in shock and blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Margaret watched him strangely. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"Grandpa got seized." He admitted reluctantly.

"Seized?" Margaret sat down the soapy plate she had been washing and looked at the child in confusion. "You mean he was kidnapped?"

Danny shook his head. "No, he had many Jesus and he was seized."

"Many Jesus?" Margaret honestly thought the boy was crazy, what on earth was he talking about? She thought about the phrase over and over again and came up with a horrible conclusion.

"Meningitis?"

Danny nodded slowly. "I think that's it." He shrugged his small shoulders. "I was only a little kid though, so I can't 'member exactly."

Margaret felt her chest tighten and tears build up once again. "He had a seizure," she clarified, beginning to understand what Danny's confused words meant.

"Yeah." The little boy pointed the soapy plate with a smile. "You missed a spot," he teased, not noticing Margaret's troubled state of mind.

Margaret forced her attention back to the plate and she picked it up just as Hawkeye walked through the door. The soapy pate slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor with a crash.

Hawkeye cursed loudly and turned to get a broom from beside the refrigerator. Margaret stared at Hawkeye for a moment and then looked back at Danny. She could feel her emotions rising and she couldn't handle the tense silence any longer. She burst out of the kitchen and almost collided with Erica.

Margaret, what's wrong?" Erica grabbed onto the woman's shoulders in concern but Margaret jerked away angrily.

"Get away from me!" she snapped, as she hurried for the front door. Margaret made it outside and stumbled down the front steps taking the familiar path to the church.

During the first few blissful years of their marriage, Margaret and Hawkeye had faithfully walked this path to the small church every Sunday at Daniel's request.

Margaret had thoroughly enjoyed herself in those days. The pastor's lectures were amusing and the people in the congregation were warm and friendly. Well, until they got a hold of a bit of gossip, then they could become unbearable.

Margaret made it to the edge of the church property and she breathlessly made her way to the small graveyard, a few hundred yards back. She paused at the white gate and then entered, scanning the stones with a dreaded expectancy.

"God, please no." she whispered to herself; praying that Danny had been mistaken. "Please, please, don't let it be true."

She came across a stone she hadn't ever seen before and she peered at the name, sighing in relief when it was someone she had never met before. There was a bouquet of wildflowers leaning against a stone near the fence. Underneath the flowers lay a child's drawing.

Margaret walked hesitantly towards the headstone and knelt beside it.

"_Daniel Edward Pierce,"_ she mumbled aloud, reading the stone's inscription. _"Beloved husband, father and grandfather. 1896-1961." _

"Oh, god, no." Margaret let out a small whimper and clamped her hand over her mouth. "Oh Daniel," Margaret laid her hand atop the stone and burst into a flood of tears. "I'm so sorry, Daniel," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here. Oh god, I loved you. I'm so, so sorry."

Margaret felt a small hand on her quivering shoulders and she looked up into Danny's sweet face and quickly tried to compose herself. "It's okay to cry," he whispered, kneeling beside her. "I miss him too."

Danny wrapped and arm around his mother's waist, patting her back comfortingly as Margaret began to cry again.

Margaret heard a car door slam in the distance and she pushed Danny back. "Go to your dad," she whispered with a shaky voice. "I'm sure he didn't like you running off."

"No," Danny shook his head stubbornly and put his arm around her waist again. "I'm stayin' with you."

* * *

-sigh- I'm falling in love with Danny. lol. He's so cute1 working on this story makes me happy. So Margaret finally found out about Daniel, poor girl. I hope to update fairly soon I'm about halfway through the next chapter but I don't want to abandon all my other stories. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Mrs.Tuttle


	11. Chapter 11

After Margaret had stormed out of the house Erica marched back into the kitchen. "What the hell did you do?" she asked angrily.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "I didn't do a thing!"

"You cursed at her," Danny cried, staunchly defending his mother.

"I did not!" Hawkeye crossed his arms and looked Erica straight in the eyes. "She dropped a damn plate, so I cursed. Margaret is not the type of woman who runs out of the house in tears because of a broken plate."

Erica turned her gaze to Danny, who was still standing on the kitchen chair. "What were you two talking about?" she asked, knowing Hawkeye was right.

"My paper." Danny's face suddenly fell as he realized his mom probably didn't know that his grandpa had died.

"Your paper was about Grandpa, wasn't it?" Hawkeye asked with a sigh, beginning to understand Margaret's hasty retreat.

Danny nodded slowly and climbed down from the chair, neither adult noticing him leave the kitchen.

"Go get her." Erica commanded him. Hawkeye looked at her in shock.

"Are you crazy? I refuse to go—"

"Go, Ben! You cannot let that woman leave. Do you know what that would to Danny—"

Erica cut herself off and looked around the kitchen for Danny. "Where is Danny?"

Hawkeye walked into the dinning room just in time to see Danny disappear into the woods behind their house.

"Where's he going?" Erica asked in a panic. "He'll get lost!"

Hawkeye shook his head as he grabbed his car keys off the table beside the front door. "No he won't. He knows exactly where he's going." Hawkeye opened the door and motioned Erica towards him. "Those woods let our right behind the church."

Erica nodded in understanding and headed for her car. "Aren't you coming with me?" Hawkeye invited.

Erica laughed and shook her head. "Why on earth would I?"

"Please?" Hawkeye pleaded.

Erica shook her head firmly. "No, Ben. You have to deal with this mess all on your own." She was about to climb in her car when Hawkeye jogged over to her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I really am sorry about the dinner with the hospital. I know you were looking forward to that."

Erica sighed and shook her head. "They have it every year," she replied. "It's not the end of the world." With that she smiled sweetly and climbed into the car.

Hawkeye sighed and walked back to his car, climbing in slowly and staring at the roof for a moment before turning the key in the ignition.

A few moments late Hawkeye pulled up in front of the church and stepped out of the car. The graveyard was behind the church and out of his view so he was obliged to walk across the lawn to make sure Margaret and Danny were there.

He stopped at the small fence, watching Danny sitting beside Margaret, both of his arms around her waist as she cried. Hawkeye felt an unexpected pang of guilt for not telling Margaret sooner about Daniel. He walked across the lawn and stopped directly behind them.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he said softly.

As soon as Margaret heard his voice she back stiffened and she jumped to her feet, frantically wiping away her tears.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and nodded towards the car. "Come on, it looks like it's going to rain."

Danny silently stood up and grabbed Margaret's hand and the three of them slowly walked to the waiting car in silence.

"Could you drop me by David's?" Margaret asked, speaking of the old motel owner.

Hawkeye nodded and Danny popped his head over the front seat. "Don't go yet," he pleaded. "Stay with us! She can stay, can't she Dad?"

Hawkeye shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Margaret scowled. "I'm sorry, Danny," she said tersely. "I'm afraid there's no room at your house. But I'll see you tomorrow."

Danny sunk back into the back seat, a small pout on his face. A sudden thought jumped into his mind and he sat up straight. "The lobster stuff starts tomorrow," he told her happily. "Can we go?"

Margaret smiled and looked at Hawkeye. She could remember all the times he had begged her to go and she refused. "We can go," she accepted.

Danny cheered loudly and began rattling off everything he wanted to do. "First there's the merry-go-round and then we have to go to the ring toss and then…"

Danny calm down," Hawkeye told the boy with a smirk. "You can give her your game plan tomorrow."


	12. Chapter 12

Hawkeye was jerked awake at a little past six by a very excited Danny.

"Come on, Daddy, get up!" The little boy shook him roughly and Hawkeye held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright I'm getting up." He assured the child, his voice barely audible.

As soon as Danny left the room Hawkeye closed his eyes again and moaned.

"You didn't close your eyes did you?" Danny called from the hallway. Hawkeye mumbled a curse and sat up, rubbing his forehead gently.

"I'm too old for mornings," he gripped on the way to the bathroom sink. He splashed some cold water on his face and looked into the mirror.

"_Was it really only eleven years ago that I showed up in Korea?" _He shook his head in disbelief as he dried his face off. He could hardly recognize himself anymore. Oh, he hadn't changed much, appearance wise, but he could remember so clearly the sharp tongue and the _save the world_ attitude he had once possessed.

"Daddy, come on!"

Hawkeye smiled and threw the damp towel onto the counter. "I'm coming."

"Doorbell! And it's not mom!"

"I said I'm coming!"

Hawkeye padded down the stairs, still in his pajamas, and peeked out the window beside the door.

"Erica!" he exclaimed in surprise as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I hope I didn't wake you," she said softly.

"Of course not, come in." Hawkeye looked at her curiously as she walked inside. Her usual cheerful personality had been replaced by a somber gloominess that he didn't understand.

"What going on?"

"Hi Miss Thompson!" Danny greeted cheerfully. "Guess what? I'm going to the festival with my mommy today."

"That sounds like fun," Erica smiled and sat down on the couch.

"Are you going to fix me breakfast?" Danny asked with a pout.

Concened with Erica's attitude Hawkeye was only annoyed by the boy's question. "Why don't you go have breakfast with your mom at Jan's?"

"Take my bike?" It being such a small town, Hawkeye let Danny have free reign of the streets with his bicycle, and Danny loved it.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Yay! Bye dad!" Danny ran to his father and gave him a quick hug before dashing outside.

Hawkeye turned his attention back upon Erica and slowly walked over to the couch. "What's going on, babe?" He asked the question quietly as he sat across from her on the coffee table.

"I love you, Hawkeye." She stated firmly.

Hawkeye chuckled and nodded. "Erica I—"

"Let me finish! I love you but I can't compete with your wife." She smiled sadly and leaned into the back of the couch.

"Oh Erica," Hawkeye rubbed his hand wearily across his eyes. "Give me a break. There's no competition. Margaret is a pain in the ass and the only reason I haven't told her to get lost is because Danny had to go and get attached."

"So you haven't been thinking constantly about her for the past six years?" Erica stood up and folded her arms challengingly.

Hawkeye groaned and shook his head. "I never thought of you as a hopeless romantic," he grumbled as he stood up. "Come on, Erica, I love you." He kissed her lips softly and she could feel her knees going weak.

"Oh no you don't! Don't you dare try and seduce me!" Erica backed away from him and snatched her purse off the coffee table. "I'm moving, Hawkeye. I've got most of my stuff packed and I spent all last night finding an apartment in New York that I can get into immediately."

Hawkeye could believe what he was hearing. "Damn it! Come on Erica, this is ridiculous. We've been together for six years! That's longer than I knew Margaret!"

"We haven't been together, Hawkeye. I practically threw myself at you and you still did nothing." She took a deep breath and leaned forward to give him a hug, trying her hardest to keep from crying.

"Please don't go," Hawkeye whispered softly into her hair. "I've been horrible to you and completely unfair." He pushed her backwards slowly and smiled. "I love you Miss Johnson and I don't know what I would do without you."

Erica hung her head in defeat. She knew she should walk right out that door but she couldn't bring herself to take even one step away from him.

Hawkeye yawned and then smiled apologetically. "God I'm tired. Come here," he pulled her onto the couch and wrapped his arms about her waist.

"I'm sorry for dragging my feet. But I love you. Everyone knows that. Hell, even my dad knew that. Please don't tell me it's too late. Marry me."

Erica bit her lips together to keep from crying and pushed herself closer to his chest. "Let's talk about it later," she whispered as her tears melted into his robe.

Hawkeye kissed her forehead softly and brushed a few stray hairs away from her face. "Alright, but I still love you."

Erica sniffled rather loudly and nodded. "And I love you."

* * *

"You've got some on your chin," Margaret laughed and reached over with a napkin to wipe a blob of ice cream off Danny's face. Danny looked over at Margaret and smirked, obviously pleased with himself over something.

"What's so funny?" Margaret asked as she stood up from the park bench.

"Oh nothin'." the little boy giggled and stood up, grabbing Margaret's hand as they walked down the crowded path.

"Hello Danny," an older woman stopped in front of the pair and smiled at the child.

"Hi Mrs. Nelson." Danny smiled and looked up at Margaret. "Do you know my mommy?"

Margaret flushed as the woman stared at Margaret in shock. "Your mother?" she raised one of her eyebrows showing her disapproval and Margaret shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah she came home yesterday." Danny looked up at Margaret and smiled. "Mrs. Nelson is my teacher," he clarified.

Margaret hadn't ever met the woman before but she had heard of her. Leonna Nelson had been a part of the community for as long as anyone could remember and she had been very close with Daniel's mother. Margaret could sense the woman's strong disapproval so she nudged Danny forward slightly.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, ma'm," she said politely as she scurried off.

"Don't you like Mrs. Nelson?" Danny asked curiously as they walked through the field.

"Sure, it's just that--" Margaret sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Look!" Danny ran towards a dunking booth happily and Margaret hesitantly followed. As they stood in line Margaret discreetly fished around in her purse, counting the few bills she had left.

_"Oh well,"_ she thought. _"I guess this trip will be a bit shorter than I had planned."_

Margaret lay fifty cents down on the counter and a man who Margaret recognized vaguely handed Danny four softballs. Danny quickly used the first two and then turned to Margaret who was avoiding the man's stares.

"Here," he handed her the last ball. "Try and knock down the milk bottles."

Margaret aimed and threw the ball as hard as she could it and it the bottom two bottles right in the center, but they didn't even budge.

"Hey!" Margaret cried indignantly. "This is rigged!"

"Oh knock it off lady," he snapped. "You missed the bottles completely.

"She did not, Larry!" Danny shouted loudly.

"Oh hush up, Danny, she missed by a mile." He turned to Margaret with a sneer on his face. "I'm not surprised she's claiming she hit them, though. She has a habit of cheating." The man's expression indicated he was referring to more than the carnival game. Her mouth dropped open as he turned around to help another set of customers.

Margaret felt as if he had slapped her. Was that what Hawkeye had been telling everyone? That she cheated on him? Margaret picked up the remaining softball and threw it viciously at the man's back.

He yelped loudly and Margaret quickly backed up, grabbed Danny's hand, and fled the scene. They reached the end of the field and Danny pulled Margaret over to a large pine tree.

"Sit down," he instructed. Margaret did as she was told and looked sheepishly at her son who was wearing a large grin, so much like his father's. Margaret shrugged and tilted her head.

"I guess my aim was a bit off."

Danny plopped down on the grass and began laughing hysterically. Margaret smiled and poked his side. "Oh come on, it wasn't that funny."

"He—he's been doin' that forever!" the little boy cried as he held his stomach. "Nobody ever hitted him before!"

Margaret chuckled as her cheeks flushed. "I fell right into that one, didn't I?"

* * *

Erica cautiously untangled herself from Hawkeye's arms and stood up. She sighed deeply and leaned over to kiss his forehead. "I love you Hawkeye Pierce," she said quietly. "But she loves you more. She needs you more. And you love her."

Erica smiled sadly at his sleeping form and quickly and stealthily made her way to the front door. "I hope you figure that out," she whispered. "Don't screw things up.Goodbye, Hawk."


	13. Chapter 13

Only one or two more chapters left. Sorry I've been so horrible abour replying to reviews. I've been insainly busy with work and finals and weddings and birthdays. lol. Anyway, I hope you like the update I'll be wrapping up this story pretty soon.

I'll be posting two new stories fairly soon. One is titled "Our Girl" which is actually a request from... um...ascii27? I think that's right. (Sorry!) The other one is titled "Three Strikes And Your In?" (Or something to that effet. I'm bad with titles. I need to look at a few songs to get some inpiration.lol.) I should have them posted fairly soon.

anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
-Major-Baby

* * *

Margaret sat on a park bench contentedly watching Danny attempt to chase a squirrel out of a tree. "Be careful," she called as he tried to climb onto the first branch. He smiled and laughed at her and Margaret smiled sadly. Everything he did reminded her of Hawkeye.

A breeze floated through the park and Margaret shivered. It was starting to grow dark and she stood up. "We'd better go," she called out to Danny.

He swung down from the branch disappointedly and ran over to her. "But dad won't be home for a long time."

Margaret doubted it, she was fairly certain Hawkeye would try and get Danny away from her as soon as possible. "Well then we'll have to play a few games of poker until he gets home."

Danny nodded happily and they began to walk down the sidewalk hand-in-hand. "Hey!" Danny called out suddenly. "That's Miss Johnson."

Margaret turned in time to see a blue Chevy truck driving down the street, three suitcases piled in the back. "Where's she going?" Danny asked in confusion.

Margaret shook her head absent-mindedly. "I'm not sure."

She heard Danny gasp and looked down at him curiously. He was staring at something behind her with his mouth hanging open. She was about to turn around when she was suddenly flooded with a putrid stench as water poured over her.

She puttered angrily as she tried to wipe the water from her eyes. She felt something sticking in her hair and she pulled it out. A piece of a fish fell into her palm and she shrieked angrily. She turned just in time to see Larry, the man from the pitching booth, running away with an empty bucket in hand.

Without thinking Margaret began to run after him. "Hey!"

He looked over his shoulder and then began to run faster. However, Margaret was in much better shape and she quickly overtook him and shoved him against a tree.

"What the hell is your problem?" she shouted at him.

"Get off me, lady!" he griped. He struggled to get away but Margaret had him pinned firmly to the tree. "You're the one with a problem."

"Fine." Margaret smiled cynically and backed away. He straightened his clothes and was about to leave when Margaret called out to him. "Hang on a second."

He turned just in time to receive a heavy blow to his face. He stumbled backwards and tumbled onto the pavement, watching in shock as Margaret walked back to her son who was doubled over with laughter.

* * *

Hawkeye shuffled up to the front door and listened carefully to see if Margaret was inside. He didn't hear a noise so he opened the door in relief. "Danny?"

"In my room!"

Hawkeye chuckled and climbed the stairs. "Did you have fun?" he asked, poking his head into the boy's room. Danny jumped up from his desk, where he had been drawing, and trotted happily to his father.

"Yeah! We were almost home and then Mom—"

"Tell me about it in a minute," Hawkeye interrupted gently. He really wasn't in any mood to discuss Margaret. He just wanted to take a long shower and try and forget about the past two days. "I'm going to get cleaned up first, okay?"

"Okay," Danny shrugged and walked back to his desk. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Where'd Miss Johnson go? I saw her driving past the park but she didn't stop."

Hawkeye exhaled sharply and frowned. "She had to leave," he grumbled angrily.

"When is she coming back?"

Hawkeye chuckled cynically at his son's persistence and rubbed his forehead in frustration. "She's not coming back."

"Oh. You're gonna miss her, huh?"

Hawkeye just turned and left his son's room without responding to the question. "Damn woman," he muttered of Margaret. "What the hell does she think she's doing? As if she could—"

As he opened his bedroom door he could hear water running in the bathroom. He frowned in confusion and opened the door. A cloud of steam enveloped him and he could hear Margaret humming softly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked sharply. He heard Margaret gasp and the knob in the shower squeaked loudly as she turned off the water.

"Sorry," she apologized as she reached out to grab a towel. "Danny said you wouldn't be home for a while so—"

Hawkeye sighed deeply and shook his head. "It's fine," he grumbled. "Finish your shower."

Margaret hesitantly disappeared back behind the shower curtain and turned the water back on. With another sigh Hawkeye walked out of the bathroom. He made it halfway across the bedroom before falling onto his knees in frustration.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath. "Damn you, Margaret." Tears began to stroll down his cheeks unnoticed as images of her startled expression from a few moments back drifted through his mind.

She missed him, he knew that. He saw it on her face from the first moment she had walked up to him the day before. Erica was right; there was no way he would be able to stop loving her. She was his wife. Through everything she was still his wife. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to forget everything she had put him through. But was it possible? Could he forget everything she had done? Could he forget how she had broken his heart? What if she broke his heart all over again?

Hawkeye looked around the room and his mind suddenly reverted to the night he had watched Margaret walk out of the bedroom. He had ended up in the same position he was in now. He could recall so clearly the heart wrenching sadness that had overtaken him. And then the excruciating pains that came later when he realized she wasn't coming back.

He sighed and looked back at the bathroom door and tried to steady his breathing. He needed her. But could her trust her again? He slowly stood up and raked his fingers through his hair. He couldn't think about himself. He had to think about Danny.

Hawkeye took a deep breath and steadily walked back to the bathroom door.


	14. Chapter 14

Margaret listened for the bathroom door to close before heaving a sigh and leaning against the wall of the shower.

_"Don't leave,"_ her mind screamed. She wanted to talk to him so badly. Not just a few curt words but to actually talk with him again. She wanted to see him smile and hear his laugh. Margaret chocked back her emotions and began to rinse the soap suds out of her hair.

Her heart leapt into her throat when she heard the sound of the bathroom door reopening. She managed to suppress a smile but she couldn't keep an excited glint out of here eyes.

"Get out!"

Hawkeye angered voice yanked her back into reality and she quickly turned the water off. "What's wrong?" she asked, peering around the shower curtain.

"I said get out!" Hawkeye barked again. He grabbed onto the curtain and yanked it back before throwing a towel at his wife.

Margaret stepped out of the shower as she wrapped the towel around her body, she couldn't understand his harsh movements. Was something wrong? Was Danny hurt?

"Oh my god," Margaret breathed in fear. "Is it Danny? Is he okay? Is..."

"Get out of my house," Hawkeye seethed. He stared directly into her eyes and Margaret watched him in shock.

"Hawkeye—"

He lunged for her clothing and threw it at her forcefully. "Get out, now!"

Rattled, and almost frightened, by his harsh voice Margaret slipped into her clothes as quickly as possible. They still smelled strongly of fish and they clung tightly to her wet skin.

"Now get out"

Margaret was willing to get dressed and fight this out with him but she wasn't about to just walk out of the house. "What is your problem?" she hissed. "That is my son and I didn't spend the last six years of my life looking for him to let you kick me out of your house; _our _house!"

"I said get out!" Hawkeye roared as he grabbed onto her arm and yanked her out of the bathroom.

"Get your hands off of me, Pierce! Let go of me now! I said let go!" Margaret wrestled with him in vain as he dragged her down the stairway.

"What are you doing?" Danny's small voice stopped Hawkeye dead in his tracks. "You're hurting her!"

"Go to your room, Danny." Hawkeye said, with a harsher voice than necessary.

"But you're—"

"I said go to your room!" Danny jumped a bit as his father shouted at him and then hurriedly ran for the safety of his room.

"Hawkeye," Margaret began to argue desperately. "You can't just kick me out like this! I have rights; he's my son!"

"No he stopped being your son the second you signed those adoption papers. I refuse to let you remain anywhere near _my_ son."

"He needs a mother!" She shouted again, her mouth hanging open in indignation.

"Not a mother like you! He needs someone he can depend on; someone who isn't going to run like a scared deer at the first sign of trouble."

That one hit hard and Margaret snapped her mouth shut. "I'll always be there for him." She said softly.

His hand came up so quickly Margaret didn't even see it. At first she wasn't even sure what had happened, but it slowly dawned on her as her cheek seared with pain. Had he actually hit her?

"Get out!" Hawkeye's voice could now only be described as a ferocious roar. "I will not let you stay anywhere near this town! Keep in mind, Miss Houlihan, this is a small town and I'm related to practically everyone, including the town's judge and sheriff. I won't have any trouble obtaining a restraining order. So unless you want your ass to wind up in jail GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

He grabbed onto her arm once more and pushed her forcefully to the front door and opened it, practically throwing her onto the porch. "You had better be out of here by morning."

And with that he slammed the door in his face. As Margaret stared at the door she felt that she could hardly breathe. He heart was beating loudly and felt as if it had just shattered into a million pieces. She knew Hawkeye was right; he could get a restraining order within minutes if he wanted to.

Every dream she had ever had splintered into thousands of tiny fragments as she slowly turned and looked towards the pine tree in the front yard. Her gaze landed on the old tire-swing attached to one of the limbs and she winced. She could picture so clearly the time she had donned a bikini and swung playfully back and forth in front of Hawkeye, taunting him as he tried to untie the strings.

She remembered repairing the fence with Hawkeye in an attempt to surprise Daniel. She forced herself to begin walking although she could hardly feel hr legs, in fact, her entire body felt completely numb, but perhaps it was just the cold air.

One thing she distinctly remembered was walking slowly away from this house over six years ago; on the worst night of her life.

* * *

Hawkeye was breathing heavily as he leaned up against the door and tried to keep tears from spilling onto his cheeks. Had he really done the right thing? Margaret couldn't be trusted. There was no way Danny should be allowed to get attached to someone who could hurt him so easily.

"Where is she?" Danny shouted from the top of the stairs. His voice was no longer small and scared. Hawkeye could tell the boy was angry.

"She left." Hawkeye sighed and rolled his eyes as Danny stomped down the stairs.

"You made her leave, didn't you?" he shouted.

Hawkeye crossed his arms, already beyond the point of simply being in a foul mood. "Yes! I did make her leave. But you're far too young to understand my reasoning so get back to your room and go to bed."

"You made her cry!" Danny shouted, crossing his arms to mimic his father. "You hurt her too!"

"Danny, I'm warning you, go back to bed!" Hawkeye was at his boiling point with his son. He had expected Danny to be upset but he hadn't had time to think what to do about it.

"Bring her back!" Danny screamed at the top of his lungs and Hawkeye reached out and swatted his behind firmly.

"Bed! Now!"

"I hate you!" Danny ran towards the stairway as fast as he could. "I finally get my Mommy back and then you yell at her and make her leave. I hate you and I'm never speaking to you ever, ever again!"

He marched up the stairs and went to his room, his firm stomping echoing down the hallway before his door slammed shut.

Hawkeye couldn't take it anymore and he slummed to the floor, letting the tears fall freely down his face.

* * *

Wow, so I can't blame you if you hate me for this chapter... I hate myself for writting it but it had to be done...it was planned out looong ago. Sheesh, I'm depressed after writting it... but I wanted to give y'all an update. I promise things won't be bad between doctor Georgeous and the Adorable One for long... I can't make any promises for the other pair though... muahaha. I hope eveyone enjoyed it, in spite of the depressing qualities. lol.

-Major-Baby


	15. Chapter 15

After a few moments Hawkeye drew his sleeve across his face and tried to steady his breathing. He pulled himself to his knees and remorsefully made his way to Danny's room, his head hanging in shame. He knew he had acted rashly. Maybe not in actually having Margaret leave, but certainly in the way he had gone about it, and especially how he had treated his son. He still couldn't believe he had actually hit the little boy. Hitting Margaret was bad enough, but his son?

"Danny?" he knocked on the little boy's door softly and sighed. "Can I come in? We need to talk." There was still no answer so Hawkeye quietly pushed open the door.

He walked over to the small bundle on the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know how much your mom means to you Danny," he began. "But there are some things you just don't understand. I love you, Danny and I just don't want her to hurt you. She could, you know, and I don't want to see that happen." There was still no response and Hawkeye frowned.

"Danny are you awake?" Hawkeye pulled back the sheets to reveal two large pillows stuffed underneath the quilt. He groaned and crossed the room, peering out the window anxiously. There was no sign of the child so Hawkeye bolted downstairs and headed for the car.

He drove through the streets slowly, searching for any sign of the child. He finally reached the end of the small town and pulled the car to the edge of the street while watching the passing cars aimlessly. He leaned his head onto the steering wheel, trying not to let himself panic.

"God damn it, what have I done?"

He took in a few deep breaths and pulled back onto the street, resolving to comb through the town once more. As he turned around a bright flash of red was caught in his headlights and he slammed on his brakes.

"Danny!" The little boy was still standing in front of the car in total shock. When he saw his father he began to cry.

"She's not there," he sobbed as Hawkeye gathered the little boy into his arms.

"Danny, I'm so sorry," Hawkeye whispered. "I should have never yelled at you like that."

Danny wiped the tears off his face and stuck out his bottom lip. "You should have never yelled at _her_ like that." He informed his father obstinately.

Hawkeye sighed and nodded slowly. "You're right. I know I handled it all wrong. Can you forgive me?"

Danny inspected his father closely and noticed the trails of tears on his cheeks. He nodded slowly and Hawkeye smiled and offered him his hand. Danny accepted it and Hawkeye helped the little boy into the car.

"Come on, little bear, let's go home."

"NO!" Danny sat up on his knees and placed both of his small hands on Hawkeye's arm. "We can't go home. Please, Daddy, we have to find her. You have to tell her you're sorry."

Hawkeye sighed deeply, he wasn't sure if he was sorry. He knew he had gone about it all wrong, but he still felt strongly about keeping Margaret far away from Danny.

"Why don't we look in the morning?" Hawkeye suggested lamely.

Danny shook his head resolutely and Hawkeye nodded in resignation. "Alright, let's go to the hotel. She's probably staying there."

"She's not there." Danny informed him quietly. "They said she asked if she could keep her bags in the basement for a little while even though she's not renting a room."

Hawkeye looked at his son in surprise, suddenly realizing how tight Margaret's budget was.

"Come on, Danny,' Hawkeye wined. "I have no idea where she could be and we can't see anything in this dark. No trains leave tonight or any bus either." He shook his head vehemently as he made up his mind. "We're going home now; we can look for her in the morning."

Danny glared at his father and kicked open the passenger door and jumped out of the car.

Hawkeye felt his heart drop into his stomach as headlights flashed onto the little boy and a horn sounded off loudly. There was a short scream from Danny followed by a deafening silence.

"Oh god no." Hawkeye jumped out of the car and dove for his son who was lying on the pavement a small puddle of blood beneath him.

A moan slipped from the little boy's lips and Hawkeye breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't just stand thee!" Hawkeye shouted to the driver of the other car. "Go call an ambulance!"

Hawkeye frantically rolled Danny onto his back and noted with relief there wasn't a single scratch on the boy's head. The blood was coming from his arm where part of the splintered bone had punctured his skin.

"Daddy," Danny moaned as he opened his eyes. "It hurts Daddy."

Hawkeye pulled his crying son onto his lap and cradled him close while they awaited an ambulance. "It's going to be fine, Danny." He whispered into the boy's ear. "People from the hospital will be here in a few minutes and they'll make the pain stop okay?" Danny nodded even though his tears were increasing.

"Does it hurt anywhere else?"

"Above my tummy hurts," he sobbed in response. Hawkeye felt along the boy's rib cage bringing a sudden scream from Danny.

"Don't do that anymore!" he howled. "Please, please, stop."

Hawkeye could hear the siren of the ambulance in the distance and he let out a deep breath in relief. "It'll will all be over, real soon Danny. Everything is going to okay, I promise."


	16. Chapter 16

"One, two, three, four, five, six, turn. One, two, turn. One, two, three, four, five, six, turn. One two—"

"Mr. Pierce?"

Hawkeye stopped pacing the lobby of the emergency room and looked expectantly at the young nurse. It had been almost twenty minutes since they arrived at the hospital and in spite of Hawkeye's heated protests he was not allowed to accompany his son into pre-op.

"_Doctor_ Pierce," he corrected irritably.

"You can see your son now, Doctor," she told him softly. Hawkeye stared at her in shock. See his son? It had only been twenty minutes. There was no way they could have completed any sort of surgery already.

"He's out of surgery?"

The nurse shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to break him the news as she had witnessed part of his earlier outbreak. "He—uh, hasn't gone into the OR yet. If you'll just follow me you can see him."

"What the hell do you mean he hasn't gone to the OR yet?" Hawkeye shouted, causing the young woman to wince. "This is a hospital for Christ's sake! Do you still help people when they're hurt or is that too old-fashioned of an idea?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but there's someone ahead of him. Please, you have to understand that we take our patients in order of who's bleeding the most."

Hawkeye sighed deeply, remembering a time when he had been forced to make the same decision. It was an impossible decision to make; should you help the person who was so far gone that they might not even make it, or save three lives in the time that surgery took. Hawkeye remember all too well the soldiers who had died while he opted for the former.

He began to sway slightly, feeling incredibly dizzy. For the first time he realized he might actually lose his son.

"Are you alright, Doctor?"

"Take me to my son," he whispered.

She led him down a series of narrow, dimly lit, pristine white hallways before stopping in front of a large, heavy door. "You can go on in," she said softly.

"Is he awake?" Hawkeye asked nervously.

"Yes sir, he is. He has an IV hooked up, and he's getting plenty of pain medication. We even bandaged his arm slightly so he won't get frightened."

"Thank you," Hawkeye told her distractedly as he hesitantly pushed open the heavy door. "Danny?"

"Hi, Daddy," Danny called quietly from the bed. Hawkeye smiled reassuringly and quickly moved towards the bed. "Hey, little bear, how do you feel?"

"Sleepy."

Hawkeye nodded and stroked the little boy's head gently. "That's the medicine," he said gruffly. "You'll be feeling better soon." Hawkeye couldn't help but glance at the child's arm, wincing as he saw spots of blood seeping through the temporary bandage.

"Have you found Mommy yet?"

Hawkeye sighed and shook his head, praying Danny wouldn't get upset, he just needed to sleep. "I wanted to stay with you," Hawkeye said honestly.

"That's okay," Danny said, noting is father's troubled expression. "I like you here but as soon as I'm better can you go find her?"

Hawkeye smiled and nodded. "Of course I will. But you're going to be here around a week." Danny's eyes popped open and his mouth formed a small 'o'.

"A whole week?" he asked in disbelief.

Hawkeye nodded and anxiously looked up at the clock, praying someone would be in to help his son soon.

"Can you go now?"

"Huh?" Hawkeye looked blankly at the little boy, as he tried to pry his attention away from the child's arm.

"Can you go find her now?"

"I really want to stay with you Danny; I'm not going to leave you all alone."

Danny scrunched up his nose, as is he was trying to decide if he really _wanted_ to be alone. "When they fix my arm can you be in the room with the doctors?"

Hawkeye shook his head slowly. "No; but I'll be right outside the door and then I'll be right next to you when you wake up."

"They're gonna put me to sleep, right?"

Hawkeye nodded impatiently, wishing Danny would drop the subject. He did feel guilty for the way he had treated Margaret but he obstinately believed that it was for the best. Even if he were to go and find her, for Danny's sake, he doubted she would even want to come back with him.

"Well if I'm asleep then it doesn't matter if you're there or not!" Danny faked a yawn and closed his eyes. "I'm going to sleep now, so go find her."

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and chuckled at his son's charade. He realized just how much it would mean to the little boy to have his mother there when he woke up. "Are you sure you don't mind me not being here?"

"Leave." Danny opened one eye cautiously to read his father's expression. Hawkeye was smiling tersely as he nodded.

"Alright, but not until they actually take you into the operating room to fix your arm, okay?"

Danny opened his other eye and smiled slightly, his large blue eyes sparkling happily. "Thank you, Daddy."

* * *

Hawkeye jogged quickly down the corridor, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible. He had one goal: go to the hotel in Crab Apple Cove, find out where Margaret had told them she would be, and then drag her back to the hospital long enough for her to tell Danny she had to go back to New York.

Hawkeye slid to a stop just outside of the ER as he realized he didn't have a car. He had ridden to the hospital inside the ambulance with Danny. He jogged back to the nearest nurses' station and asked to use the telephone and a phone book.

As he flipped through the pages, searching for a taxi cab company he couldn't help but overhear two doctors discussing a patient that was in the OR. Hawkeye began to flip through the pages more slowly, as he assumed they were talking about the patient that had "bumped" Danny back.

"It's amazing she isn't dead," the first doctor observed with a shake of his head.

"She'll want to be when she wakes up."

"_If_ she wakes up," the first doctor commented cynically. The second man sighed in agreement and Hawkeye felt unexpectedly guilty for trying to get Danny ahead of this woman.

"She has one hell of a medical history." The second doctor piped in. "I saw her file. He whistled softly and shook his head. "They had to restart her heart three times."

Hawkeye turned his full attention upon calling a cab, feeling a bit like an intruder.

"When was that?"

"A while back, about five years or so I think."

After calling a cab to pick him up Hawkeye quickly hung up the phone and walked away from the doctors, trying to shake their conversation from his mind. Why did life always have to be so hard? It seemed like everywhere he looked people were hurting.

"You're in a hospital, Genius." Hawkeye mumbled to himself.

"Ben!" Hawkeye turned around to see Cliff Miller running towards him. The man was nearing 71 and had been a close friend of his father's. Cliff was one of the many fishermen of Crab Apple cove, living off the people of Maine's love for lobster.

"Ben, I've been looking all over for you!" he cried as he skid to a stop in front of the middle-aged doctor.

Hawkeye smiled and placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. "He's going to be alright," he said warmly. "I can take you up to his room if ya like,' he offered. "They haven't taken him into the OR yet."

Cliff looked at him blankly for a moment before an expression of horror spread across his face. "Oh dear," he mumbled quietly. "This isn't good."

"What is it?" Hawkeye tilted his head to one side and frowned. "Hey, I thought you were out fishing this weekend."

"I was." The old man began ringing his hands anxiously and pacing around in a small circle. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," he mumbled to himself. "Quite bad, quite bad."

"You didn't know about Danny." Hawkeye said slowly, trying to understand what had upset the old man so.

"Danny!" he cried loudly, gaining a few glares from the nurses. "What's wrong with the boy?" he grabbed onto Hawkeye's sleeve anxiously, his small, five foot-five frame looking absurd beside Hawkeye.

His arm is broken, along with two ribs. But he's going to be okay." Hawkeye began to feel very hot as he tried to understand what was happening. "If you didn't know about Danny why are you here and why were you looking for me?"

"Margaret," the old man admitted reluctantly. "I had no idea you two had gotten back together—"

"We're not back together," Hawkeye snapped. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, never mind then," Cliff said reluctantly. "I just assumed because she was back that you had—"

"No."

Hawkeye's formidable expression left the old man speechless and he took a few steps backwards. "Well I suppose I should be going home now," he said nervously, walking towards the emergency room, the opposite direction of the exit.

In one final burst of jumbled thoughts Hawkeye realized what was going on. "No," he breathed. "It can't be. Cliff!" he called out after the family friend. "How did you know Margaret was back in town if you were out fishing?"

The man hung his head in defeat and sighed deeply. "I found her, Ben," he said softly. "I found her in the ocean."


	17. Chapter 17

"W-what do you mean? What do you mean you found her in the ocean?" Hawkeye grabbed onto the man's shoulders roughly, a panicked expression spreading across his handsome face.

"I'm sorry, Ben." Cliff said quietly. Hawkeye tried in vain to steady his breathing as he raked his fingers through his thick hair in agitation.

"How the hell am I supposed to tell Danny that his mom is dead? Damn it! And it's my fault1 If I—"

"Excuse me," one of the doctors approached Hawkeye cautiously. "If you're referring to the lady who was brought in here about three hours ago, she's not dead."

Hawkeye breathed a sigh of relief and released Cliff's shoulders. "I was trying to tell you that, Ben," he told him gently. "She was still alive when I pulled her out of the water. I called an ambulance when I got to shore and they brought her here. They won't tell me how she's doing."

"What happened?" Hawkeye asked hesitantly, not really wanting to know the answer.

"As far as I can tell she must have slipped off the cliff." The old man replied with a shrug.

"What the hell is going on?" Hawkeye turned his pent up frustration upon the doctor. The doctor, though significantly larger than Hawkeye, shrunk visibly away from him

"I'm not allowed to disclose any medical information to non-family members—"

"That's my wife for god's sake!" Hawkeye roared.

"Can you come with me, sir?" the older doctor stepped in and took Hawkeye's arm. "Let's go to my office, where we won't disturb the patients.

"We'll talk about it right here," Hawkeye responded firmly, as he lowered his voice.

The older man nodded curtly and then looked hesitantly at Cliff Miller. "I'll be leaving now," the fisherman said awkwardly. He was all too happy to be able to escape the gloominess of the hospital.

As soon as he had left the older doctor sighed and offered Hawkeye a sympathetic look. "Mr. Miller is correct in assuming that your wife fell from the cliffs. She's sustained massive bruising, mostly to her left side and the majority of her bones on that side are broken as well. One of her lungs was punctured by a broken rib and she has a bad case of pneumonia, which seems to have come on _before_ this incident."

"Those cliffs are well over fifty feet above the water," Hawkeye mumbled, more to himself than to the physicians.

"There was extensive internal bleeding from the impact. It's a miracle she wasn't killed instantly."

"Was it?" Hawkeye shot the man an injured look. "The woman you were discussing a few moments ago, that was my wife, was it not?"

"Er, yes, sir."

"Then perhaps it wasn't a miracle that she made it, maybe it would have been more merciful had she died."

"We really don't know, sir. We can't be certain of your wife's condition until she wakes up."

"_If_ she wakes up," Hawkeye corrected. "I'm a doctor, Doctors, don't insult my intelligence. Every possible thing that could be wrong with her is running through my mind right now, and don't you dare tell me that you don't have any idea of what's going on. Where's her file?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't—"

"Of course I can. And don't call me _sir_ it sounds like my father's standing right behind me.

"Is your father here, sir?" The younger doctor asked ignorantly. "Perhaps we could explain things to him instead."

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and the elder physician cringed. "You know," Hawkeye began with a cynical smile. "Everyone has the right to be stupid but you really abuse the privilege. Now give me her file."

"It will take just one minute, Doctor," the elder man cut in. "Dr. Jenkins will ask one of the nurses to retrieve it."

Hawkeye nodded curtly, relieved that the elder doctor seemed to be taking charge. He didn't know if he could handle the idiocy of Dr. Jenkins, right now.

"Can I get you a cup of coffee?"

"No thanks, Joe," Hawkeye responded sullenly.

"Excuse me?" the doctor said uncertainly.

"No coffee, Dr. –" Hawkeye looked at the badge the man had clipped onto his coat pocket and rolled his eyes. "Dr. Hyde." Hawkeye sighed deeply and glanced at his watch. "My son is in surgery right now," he informed the doctor with a melancholy tone. "I'll be in the waiting room. Have someone bring Margaret's file to me there."

Dr. Hyde nodded slowly. He felt extremely sorry for the man before him, he had no idea that his son had been injured as well, no wonder he seemed so distraught even before he had discovered his wife's plight.

Hawkeye recognized the look in the doctor's eyes and he tried to offer a smile. He had given that same sympathetic look to others so many times. He slowly turned away from the doctor and headed back down the hall to the waiting room closest to the OR.

* * *

Hawkeye stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He needed to think, to try and sort this all out. But the sound of the nurses' rubber shoes squeaking against the tiled floor, the constant paging of staff to different areas of the hospital and his own erratic heartbeat made it impossible for him to concentrate on anything.

In a futile attempt Hawkeye picked up Margaret's medical file once more. He read the same things he had read dozens of times already. Left arm: broken. Left shoulder blade: crushed. Left leg: broken. Right leg: broken. 9 broken ribs… Hawkeye flipped through the pages irritably, searching for an earlier page. Her current injuries weren't his problem, of course he was as worried as hell, but something had caught his eye and he couldn't quite shake it.

Six years before, on April eleventh, Margaret had been checked into a hospital in upper-state New York with pneumonia. She was there for one week before giving birth to a baby boy weighing six pounds and four ounces.

Hawkeye sighed, not understanding the next few notations. Margaret didn't check out of the hospital for another three weeks. Extensive hemorrhaging had led to heart failure, apparently it happened three times.

"What the hell happened?" Hawkeye shook his head in frustration, wishing he hadn't demanded to see her file. Now he not only knew that she had almost died, but he was fully aware of the fact that she only had a ten percent chance of living through the night.

"Excuse me, sir." A young nurse entered the waiting room and smiled warmly. "Your son is out of surgery and awake. He's in room 308 if you would like to see him now."

"He's alright?"

She nodded gently. "He's perfectly fine. In about a month or two he'll be as good as new."

Hawkeye heaved a great sigh of relief. In all the chaos he was glad that something had finally gone right.


	18. Chapter 18

a apologize a thousand times for not responding to reviews!!! Things have been super hectic lately (which is why I've been rotten about updating as well). My aunt and uncle are staying at our house for the weekend, my bank account was hacked into, among other things... ANYWAY... I finally updated -cheers- !!!

* * *

"Hey Daddy," Hawkeye could hear his son's greeting before he even entered the room. 

"Hey, little bear. Are you feeling okay?" Hawkeye smiled broadly when he aw Danny's small face smiling brightly.

"My head feels fuzzy and my arm kinda hurts but its okay." He yawned and Hawkeye chuckled.

"Get some sleep." He instructed gently, pushing his son cautiously into the pillows.

"Did you find, Mommy?" The eagerness in the little boy's voice made Hawkeye wince. He took a shaky breath and nodded.

"I found her."

Danny grinned. "Where is she? I wanna see her!" He struggled to sit up and peered towards the door. "Mommy?" he called hopefully. Hawkeye shook his head sadly.

"She can't come in here."

"Why not?" Danny sent his father an angry pout as Hawkeye tried to decide what to say.

"She's here in the hospital," he said slowly. "She's hurt."

Danny's eyes widened, his lower lip still protruding. "She's okay though, isn't she?"

Hawkeye place an arm around the little boy. "She's hurt pretty badly, Danny."

"No," Danny let out a small whimper and leaned his head against his father's chest. "She's gotta be okay," he told his dad. Hawkeye looked down and watched an expression of horror spread over the child's face.

"She's not gonna die, is she?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Hawkeye refused to look into his son's eyes, staring at the IV line instead. "I don't know."

"Yes you do!" Danny grabbed onto his father's sleeve with his good arm and shook it roughly. "What's wrong with Mommy?"

"She fell off the cliffs," Hawkeye said softly. "She's hurt."

Danny let out a pitiful cry. Even his young mind could picture what would happen if someone fell that far. He leaned into his father's arms and began to sob bitterly. "It's not fair," he moaned.

Hawkeye hugged his son close, feeling tears building up in his own eyes. "I know it's not," he whispered. "It's not fair at all."

Hawkeye struggled in vain to keep tears from spilling onto his cheeks. Danny looked up at his father with a saddened expression. "You love her too, don't you?"

Hawkeye smiled and shrugged. He didn't know what to tell the boy. He knew he loved Margaret. He had never stopped loving her. But he didn't trust her, and to have any sort of relationship there had to be trust.

_"Not as if there's any chance for a relationship now._" Hawkeye's mind added bitterly.

"I _care_ about her," Hawkeye finally told his son.

"Well _I_ love her," Danny mumbled, snuggling closer to his father. "Make her better, Daddy!" he pleaded. "She's just gotta get better!"

* * *

Hawkeye sat beside Danny's bed, watching the child's sleeping form as he tried to rid himself of his guilt. He hated seeing his child in pain. And it wasn't the physical pain of his injury that was torturing Hawkeye, it was Danny's anguish over hearing about his mother's condition. 

"Hawkeye?"

He smiled at the familiar female voice and stood up to greet Erica. "I'm so glad you're here," he said sincerely as he hugged her warmly.

Erica smiled and shrugged. "I came to my apartment to pick up the rest of my things and Sheryl told me what happened. Hawkeye impulsively hugged the woman again and then led her towards Danny's bed. "He's doing fine," he told her, watching Erica heave a sigh of relief.

"He should have full use of his arm in about two months."

"Oh I'm so glad," Erica smiled genuinely at the little boy and sat down beside him, stroking his soft black hair softly.

"Why did you leave?" Hawkeye asked, crossing his arms sternly.

"I told you why I had to leave." She replied stiffly as she stood up.

"I thought we settled that!" Hawkeye's voice was nothing more than a whisper but Erica still felt intimidated by the intensity.

"No," she shook her head and smiled slightly. "I let you think we had settled it. It was the only way I could get out of there without you arguing with me the entire way," she shrugged and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "And we both know I'm not very good at arguing with you."

"Can you stay here with Danny for about a half hour?" he asked. "I have to run and pick up a few things from the house and there's no way I'm going to leave him alone."

"Of course, I will. What is it you need? I could pick them up myself, if you like."

Hawkeye shook his head. "No, I'll need to wake up Mrs. Belle at the hotel. I doubt anyone but me could do that and keep their head."

Erica chuckled and nodded. "Are you going to pick up Margaret?" she knew Margaret had to be staying at the only hotel in town. And she couldn't think of any other reason why Hawkeye would be going there.

"No, I'm going to pick up her things. Margaret's here already." Hawkeye avoided telling Erica that Margaret was at the hospital as a patient, he didn't want to find out how she would react to that.

"Why isn't she here with Danny?" Erica felt an unusual spark of anger. Up until now she had been completely rooting for Margaret, but she found it extremely hard to stomach that the woman wasn't here even when her son was hurt."

"Let's just say she's tied up at the moment," Hawkeye replied with a sneer.

_"With another doctor, no doubt,"_ Erica thought bitterly.

"I'll be back as soon as possible." Hawkeye kissed her cheek and sighed. "Please be here when I get back."

Erica nodded sincerely. "I wouldn't leave him."

* * *

Hawkeye dragged himself out of the cab and headed for the lobby of the hotel. He rapped on the glass door, praying one of the Belle's would hear it. 

"Land sakes, Benjamin!" he heard Alice's voice from indoors. "I've been trying to find you for hours!"

Hawkeye smirked as the door was thrown open. "Did you know your boy was here?" she questioned as she pulled him inside. "Oh of course you know that," she answered for him. "Why else would you be here. That child nearly scared me half to death!" she fanned herself with her hand and shook her head disapprovingly.

"You shouldn't let that child run around as much as he likes. And at all hours of the night too! Shame on you Benjamin!"

"Listen, Alice, I need—"

"What goin' on down there?" Harry Belle called from the top of the stairs.

"Go to bed, you old coot! I'm busy!"

Hawkeye sighed and began to look around the lobby for Margaret's things as Alice rattled on.

"He asked for Margaret he did. I thought that was awfully strange since she checked out early this mornin'. I told her it was a shame to see her go but to tell you the truth I was glad! There ain't nothing I hate more than a non-paying customer; even if she was your girl. I told her last night if she couldn't pay she would just have to skedaddle! I heard her swearin' all the way to her room! I don't approve of that you know, Benjamin. A lady should talk like a lady no matter how upset she is!"

Hawkeye felt as if his head would explode, but luckily he had spotted a suitcase placed behind the counter and he pulled it out and opened it, quickly determining that the suitcase was Margaret's.

"Bye Alice," he pecked the woman's cheek and then fled for the door.

"Now where are you goin'?" she cried. "Where's your boy? Glory be, Benjamin, put on a coat! In these chilly summer nights you can catch your death!"

Hawkeye jogged across the street and climbed into his car. The door was still open from when he had jumped out after Danny. He climbed inside, glad to see the keys still in the ignition. He stared the car and began to drive slowly back to the house. There was still one more thing he needed to get.

* * *

"What are you doin' here?" 

Erica smiled at the little boy and moved to sit beside him. "Your Daddy had to go back to town to get his car. I volunteered to stay here with you."

"Oh okay." He offered a crooked smile. "Do you have any cards?"

Erica laughed and shook her head. "Even if I did I refuse to play poker with you; it's depressing when I lose so badly."

Danny grinned but quickly turned the expression into a pout and forced his bottom lips to begin trembling. "But I'm hurt," he shot his watery blue eyes towards her and Erica felt her heart melt, even though she knew it was all show.

"Alright fine," she tickled the bottom of his foot which was sticking out of the covers. I'll go see if I can hunt down a pack of cards."

Erica stood up and walked out of the door, colliding with a young nurse. "Oh I'm so sorry, ma'm." the nurse apologized.

"It's perfectly alright." Erica straightened the front of her dress and brushed past the woman.

"Excuse me," the nurse called after her. "Do you know where Doctor Pierce is?"

Erica turned and nodded. "He needed to stop by his home to pick up a few items. He should be back shortly."

The nurse nodded and smiled her thanks. "Could you give him message for me?" she asked. "When he gets back please tell him his wife is awake."


	19. Chapter 19

WOw...can you believe it? I actually updated!!! I'm soo sorry... I could go into a list of thousands of excuses, but I am just sooo sorry. I'll do my best to be more consistent... I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"His wife?" Erica stuttered in confusion.

"Yes ma'm, she finally woke up. She's not doing very well though." The nurse heard her name being paged and she promptly trotted down the hall while Erica stared after her in shock.

"If she's awake that means she's better, right?" Erica turned her gaze towards the little boy and tried to smile reassuringly in answer to his question. She desperately wanted to nod and tell the boy that Margaret was alright but up until a few seconds before she hadn't even known the woman was ill.

"Uh—Danny—" Erica shook her head in dismay. "I didn't know that—I mean, your dad didn't—uh—"

Danny sighed and frowned angrily, reminding Erica so much of the old Major Houlihan she once knew. "Daddy didn't tell you she got hurt." He didn't ask it; it was a statement.

"That's right." Erica sat down beside the child, and held her arms out tentatively. Danny instantly leaned into her embrace and let out such a melancholy sigh that it brought tears to Erica's eyes.

"She can't die!" he whispered, his voice full of terror. "I love her too much and I need her to be my mommy. He straightened up suddenly, his eyes wide. "She's all by herself!" he exclaimed, struggling to get past Erica's restraining arms and out of the bed.

"Danny, you stay put. Your dad doesn't need you getting sick too." She placed a gentle hand on his head and kissed his forehead gently.

Her words seemed to pacify the child momentarily, although a concerned pout remained on Danny's face. "She needs me." He pleaded. "I'm the only one that loves her."

Erica stared at the child in surprise. "What about your father?"

"He told me he doesn't love her." The child looked so sad that it momentarily turned Erica's heart stone cold against Hawkeye.

"He didn't mean it." She stated resolutely.

"Can't you go stay with her?" he pleaded.

"No." Erica tossed her head firmly. "Absolutely not. I told your father that I would be here when he got back and this is exactly where I intend to be." Danny frowned at her and then glanced at the door mischievously.

"What are you up to?" Erica asked, somewhat nervously. She knew that scheming look all too well. Like father, like son.

Before Erica knew what was happening, Danny began screaming as loud as he could; attracting the attention of the surrounding nurses.

* * *

Hawkeye found her purse tucked beside the couch and he plucked it up quickly before heading for the door. He had been gone almost two hours and he was extremely anxious to check on his son. When he finally made it to the children's ward in the hospital, he noticed several nurses crowded around Danny's door. 

"What is it?" he shouted intensely. "What happened?"

"Oh Doctor, good—" One of the nurses smiled and ushered him into the child's room. He found his son in complete hysterics and for a moment he had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Danny?" he said hesitantly as he moved towards the screaming boy. Danny looked up at his father and immediately stopped screaming and wiped a few tears from his face.

"Can I have some water?" he asked calmly, shooting his father an angered glare.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes, realizing that it had all been a charade. "Can you excuse us, please?" Hawkeye turned and gave the nurses an apologetic look. Once they had left Hawkeye crossed his arms and sat down on the hospital bed.

"Where is Miss Johnson?" he asked sternly.

"They kicked her out after I asked them to." Danny crossed his arms to mimic his father's severe look.

* * *

Erica stepped quietly out of a room in the ICU and flushed hotly as she saw Hawkeye steadily walking towards her, looking as if he could kill. 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as he approached her. "I didn't want to leave, I was even going to stay outside his door but—"

"It's fine." His expression softened and he grasped her shoulders gently. "Sometimes I think—well, it doesn't matter." He swallowed nervously, an action Erica had never witnessed before, and then peered around her body towards the closed door.

"Mercifully she's asleep now."

"Could she talk? I mean did she even know you were in the room?"

"She knew." She replied tersely, her demeanor changing suddenly.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"We were talking that's all." Erica's face paled slightly as she gave away this information, telling Hawkeye that their conversation had gone deeper than a light hearted '_how are you feeling?_'.

"I bet she came up with a long list of excuses for why she's been gone for six years and then begged you to try and explain everything to me so that everything will turn out just perfect."

Erica's eyes narrowed to small slits and she moved her hands up to her hips. "No, she didn't." she fairly spat the words out. "She happened to tell me she would kill me if I ever told you. And before you say it, she isn't playing games with you. She wanted to die, Hawkeye. You and I both know that she didn't _fall_ from that cliff. There's a fence for god's sake." Erica glared at him before marching down the hallway.

"You know when I left yesterday morning I prayed to god you wouldn't screw things up. I see that was just too much to hope for."

"Erica I wasn't entirely fair to her, I admit it," he jogged after the woman, catching her by the arm. "But can you blame me? She walked out on me and took my son with her, only to dump him with complete strangers. She couldn't even bring him back to me!"

"She didn't dump him!" Erica's blurted statement was so severe that it took Hawkeye off guard.

"She tried to tell you she didn't put him up for adoption?" he sneered. "I was there, Erica. I had to adopt my own son because he belonged to another couple. She's really got you fooled doesn't she? God I can't believe you will believe everything that comes out of her mouth just because—"

Hawkeye had known it was coming before she had even raised her hand. And now that his cheek was stinging fiercely he knew he deserved it.

"Did you even ask her what she's been doing for that past six years?" Erica hissed. "No, because you are the most selfish, narcissistic man I have ever met. You care only about yourself and your own problems; it never even entered your mind that she didn't want to give Danny up for adoption. Maybe she—" Erica cut herself off bluntly and began walking down the hallway once more.

In one split second Hawkeye realized that she may be right. What if—

"What happened? I know she told you her version of our lovely little fairy tale. What happened?"

Erica sighed and looked towards the nearest exist sign. "Do you have her purse?"

"Yes."

"Inside there should be a business card for private investigator. He should be able to answer most of your questions." Erica tossed her blonde locks out of her face and headed back down the corridor. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to check on Danny and then head back to New York."


	20. Chapter 20

"Hello James Warden? Yes I'm sorry I know it's early it's just— no, no sir I don't need—I found your card in my wife's purse and I—" Hawkeye sighed as the man on the other end of the line abruptly hung up the phone. He began to dial again, watching his son's chest rise and fall with deep, steady breaths.

"Thank god for you, little bear," he mumbled to his sleeping child. "It's me again—please don't hang up. I haven't seen my wife in years and I was wondering if you could tell me anything of her whereabouts lately."

The man on the other end sighed deeply. "Sir it's barely past six in the morning, the office doesn't even open until nine. I slept in the office last night to avoid my wife's angry glares and I just want some peace and quiet. Now I'm sick and tired of getting calls from suspicious husbands. If your wife was having you followed, I can't do a thing about it. Now will you—"

"My wife happens to be dying." Hawkeye interrupted the investigator bluntly. "I was telling you the truth when I said I haven't seen her in years."

Hawkeye could hear a file drawer being opened slowly. "What's her name?" he question reluctantly.

"Margaret Houlihan, and thank you."

James Warden began shuffling through his files as Hawkeye waited impatiently. "I'm sorry, sir, but your wife's name isn't in my files. I'm not sure what made you think that she would be, but—"

"Margaret Pierce? What about Margaret Pierce?" Hawkeye closed his eyes momentarily, hoping the man would recall the name. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, ended by a nervous cough.

"She's dying?"

"Euphemistically called _passing on_, but yes, she's dying."

"W-what happened?" Hawkeye was shocked by the man's interest and his decidedly disturbed tone of voice.

"She ran out of ground," He replied sarcastically. "Now do you know her or not?"

"I've only known Margaret for about three weeks. She was a part of a flood of clients I received after that scandal with Jonathan Ramsey, I'm sure you heard about it."

"No I haven't, but I'm not surprised to hear that my wife was a part of it." Hawkeye yawned and picked up a coffee mug, gulping down as much as he could without scorching his mouth.

"She happened to be a victim, sir." Mr. Warden's voice grew a bit louder and Hawkeye could tell he was becoming upset. Margaret must have managed to woo the man. Jonathan Ramsey was a colleague of mine. We went to school together and we had even worked at the same unit with the New York Police Department. He became a private investigator, as did I. Four weeks ago it was discovered that he had been cheating just about all of his clients, your wife included, leading them on and having them believe he was working on his case while charging them an arm and a leg. Your wife had been working with him for six years."

"Up until three weeks ago."

"That's right sir."

Hawkeye yawned again and shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Her case was private, sir."

"I'm her husband for god's sake! What was she paying this scumbag for?" Danny opened his eyes and looked over at his father.

"What's wrong, Daddy?"

"Hawkeye smiled reassuringly and shook his head. "Go back to sleep, Danny."

"The boy is with you?" Hawkeye turned his attention back to the phone call.

"What do you mean?"

"The boy, your son, Daniel Pierce, he's with you?"

"Of course he is."

James Warden began to chuckle slightly. "Well if doesn't beat all," he mumbled. "Sir," he began, addressing Hawkeye. "Are you aware that you wife has been looking for your son for the past six years?"

"That's impossible." Hawkeye shook his head flippantly but his knuckles were turning white as he gripped the arm of the chair.

"She signed papers stating that she would give the child up for adoption once it was born, which she later regretted doing and intended to reverse. But under circumstances which she never informed me of, she was unable to annul the papers."

"It couldn't possibly take six years to find him!" Hawkeye protested, not wanting to believe what was beginning to dawn on him.

"It took me three weeks, to track your son down." James informed him quickly. "I already told you about Mr. Ramsey's racket. I could have actually found him sooner but the couple that you adopted your son from died in a car accident a week after the papers were signed. Your adoption papers had been lost in a fire when the courthouse was burned by some fool teenagers messing around. It was assumed that the child had died."

"It's not possible," Hawkeye breathed as the reality of what had happened began to sink in. "It's just not possible."

* * *

"Daddy who—" 

"Shh! Yes, I understand sir. But if I—"

Daddy what—"

"Quiet Danny! Please sir, I've already seen her file I was just wondering if anyone at the hospital could recall—yes I realize that was a long time ago, but—"

"Daddy—"

"Danny, you have to be quiet! Give me a few minutes! No sir, not you, please can you just tell me if Doctor Johansson works there still? Can you get him on the line? I see." Hawkeye sighed and rubbed a weary hand across his face as he hung up the telephone. It was probably for the best he didn't know all the details.

"Daddy, who were you talking to?"

"Aren't you tired?" Hawkeye asked irritably. The boy had been pestering him non-stop since seven in the morning. It was now a little past nine and Hawkeye was completely exhausted.

"I just wanna know who you were talking to." Danny persisted.

"A doctor who took care of your mom a few years ago." Hawkeye stood up and stared out the small window beside Danny's bed.

"I'll go to sleep if you go talk to her." Danny bargained hopefully.

"You'll go to sleep anyway," Hawkeye told the boy sternly.

"Please?" Danny leaned over and grabbed his father's shirt, tugging on it slightly. "I can't go see her 'cause I'm too little, but you can go see her for me, okay?"

Hawkeye heaved a deep sigh as he tried to avoid his son's pleading eyes. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing Margaret. He head read her file and his physician's mind could clearly picture what she probably looked like.

"Alright." He wasn't sure who had actually said that until he found himself standing. "I'll only be gone a few minutes." Hawkeye was assuring himself more than the child.

"You can stay an hour." Danny told his father quickly.

Hawkeye smiled unexpectedly and leaned over to kiss his sin's forehead. "I love you, Danny." He whispered huskily. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're alright."

"You're takin' forever to leave," the little boy complained.

Hawkeye chuckled and straightened his back, giving his son one more smile before he left the room.

As he walked down the hallways Hawkeye could feel his heart beating faster with every step. He finally arrived at Margaret's room and pushed open the door silently. His heart leapt into his throat as he saw her lying helplessly in the narrow hospital bed, tubes running in an out of her body in every direction.

"Oh baby," the agonized words slipped past his throat without him realizing it. He stepped beside the bed, surveying the massive bruises, and cuts he could see on just her face and arms. There was a bandage wrapped around her head, her arms were wrapped in a splint, the doctors had been unable to put a cast on her arms because of the necessary surgeries they would have to perform at a later date.

Hawkeye could hear his wife's labored, ragged breathing; his own breath seeming to catch along with hers. He surveyed her left hand carefully; making sure it wasn't broken, before he picked it up gently and began to stroke it.

"You wouldn't tell me," he whispered. "You had a perfectly good excuse why you hadn't contacted us, and you wouldn't tell me." A tear slipped down the side of his face and he wiped it away angrily. It was a futile effort, as several drops began to follow.

* * *

So how sad is that? Poor, Margaret, she has all the luck doesn't she? All will be wrapped up in the next chapter (probably) I can't see it going any other way anless I continue the story for another five chapters or so...what do ya say? Do you want me to have a short ending or a gradual one?


	21. Chapter 21

_Most of you probably thought I dropped off the face of the earth..sorry. I've been getting home from work at 10 o'clock and collapsing in to bed... I'll do my best to update more quickly (yeah, yeah, that's what i always say...I know...)_

_

* * *

_

_"Rest, honey," a doctor said gently as he stood by her side. "You know it's best that you don't see the child." Margaret tossed her feverish head and attempted to sit up, crying out in pain as she did so._

_"Let me hold my baby," she cried once more as tears began to roll down her face. "What's wrong with you? Let me see my baby! You don't understand!" Margaret managed to push the doctor's restraining arm away and she pulled herself off the bed. _

_"Mrs. Pierce get back onto the bed, now!" the doctor and two nurses rushed over to Margaret, each grabbing onto her and forcing her back onto the bed._

_Margaret clawed and kicked at them until she broke free and headed for the hallway, where a nurse had carried her baby. She made it as far as the door before collapsing from exhaustion and pain._

* * *

Hawkeye woke to the sound of a nurse slipping quietly into the room. He glanced down at Margaret who was still sleeping fitfully. Something was different though. He scratched at his arm, and then suddenly noticed the extreme temperature difference from his own skin and Margaret's hand which he was still holding firmly. 

"What is it?" he asked the nurse fretfully.

"Just a routine checkup, sir," she responded lightly.

"No," he growled in irritation. "Her temperature; what is it?"

"Hold on," the nurse was beginning to grow agitated; there was nothing she disliked more than meddling family members. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Margaret's temperature to register on the thermometer.

She gave a disappointed huff as she shook her head slowly. "She's not doing well."

Hawkeye grasped Margaret's hand more firmly as his eyes bore holes into the nurse's face. "How high is it?" He almost didn't want to know what it was; he could feel her hand burning and even the air surrounding her body was hot.

"105.9." the woman divulged reluctantly.

Hawkeye choked back a frustrated growl and began to massage his temples gently. It was going to be a very long day.

* * *

It has been two days since the accident. Hawkeye couldn't believe it had been that long. The last forty-eight hours had been like hell. He had gotten a total of three hours sleep as he ran between his wife's room and his son's. Danny had been checked out of the hospital that morning. He was taking pain medicine and his am still had to be in a splint, so not to irritate the incision, but the doctors all assured Hawkeye that the child would be perfectly fine. 

"Can I have some ice-cream?" Danny asked hopefully as he bounced up and down on the diner's cushioned seat. The little boy had begged his father to take him out for lunch; apparently the child hated the hospital food as much as his father.

Hawkeye gave his consent with a half-hearted nod while his son let out an excited cheer and began his quest for a waitress. Hawkeye nervously glanced at his silver wristwatch and heaved an irritated sigh He hated being away from the hospital even for meals. He was constantly plagued by guilt whenever he was away; well actually it didn't matter where he was.

A waitress made her way to the table and handed the expectant child his treat. Hawkeye impatiently tossed a few bills on the table.

"I'll be done in a minute," Danny laughed at his father.

"Good, then we'll go home."

Danny's head popped up and her stared at his father in surprise. "What about Mommy?" Hawkeye sighed deeply, he knew Danny was going to put up a fight; and this time it was going to be more difficult to argue with the little boy. Hawkeye honestly wanted to stay with Margaret but he couldn't justify forcing Danny to be in the hospital for the next three weeks. Besides, he had a job and a responsibility for the people in town. They couldn't just do without a doctor for the next few months.

"We'll visit her," Hawkeye said evasively. Danny shocked him with an approving smile.

* * *

It seemed as if every square inch of her body was on fire. She couldn't move, and couldn't speak. She was glued in place as she struggled desperately to breathe; every intake of air causing shooting pains to race through her chest. 

Margaret opened her eyes cautiously, squinting in the bright lights. She could feel both of her arms were in slings, and she couldn't lift her head enough to find out about her numb legs.

"_Terrific job, Houlihan,_" she scolded herself silently. "_Now you're probably paralyzed." _She turned her eyes to the left, her neck held firmly in place by a cushioned brace. She saw something that startled her. Her purse and suitcase was lying beside the chair to her left.

Her eyes darted frantically towards the door and her heart skipped a beat. She knew she had left her suitcase at the hotel. Her purse had been left at the house. Panic began to set in and she struggled to speak. "Nurse," the short word came out hoarsely and barely above a whisper. "Nurse," it was a bit louder this time and Margaret could hear hurried footsteps approaching the open doorway.

"I need out of here," Margaret croaked as two nurses scurried into the room. Every word seemed to bring shooting pains through her chest but she had to make the nurses understand. "Please, you have to get me out of here."

* * *

The walls seemed to be flying around her head as Margaret was wheeled down the hallway on a gurney. There was an ambulance parked in front of the hospital, waiting to transfer her to a hospital in New York. She whimpered as a doctor's arm brushed against her skin. Every feeling has become extenuated. Even the slightest touch was excruciating. She could tell they were coming to a stop and she breathed a sigh of relief as she closed her eyes. She would be gone soon, away from the torture of having to face Hawkeye's pitying, guilt-fueled glances.

* * *

Margaret opened her eyes and found herself in a new room. She sighed in satisfaction and looked around the room curiously. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Pierce." A doctor strode through the door and picked up her clipboard with a flourish. "You're doing much better today."

"Am I paralyzed?" she asked forcefully. "I want you to tell me exactly what's wrong with me."

The doctor chuckled and shook his head. "A year from now you'll be perfectly fine."

Margaret's face paled and she sighed deeply, bringing on a long coughing fit and a wave of exhaustion. "Hey, take it easy," the doctor approached her and stroked her hair out of her face softly. "I don't want you to have a relapse."

"I can't pay for it." Margaret mumbled as her eyes began to droop shut.

"You're husband assured us that he would cover everything. Now get some sleep."

Margaret's eyes darted open and she glared at the innocent doctor. "My husband?" she shrieked as loudly as her aching ribs would permit. "I requested to be transferred from Maine immediately!"

"Calm down," the doctor ordered sternly. "This is a matter between you and your husband apparently. Work it out with him _after_ you're fever is gone." The man crossed his arms threateningly and Margaret closed her eyes wearily. "Don't let him in my room." She commanded.

"Fine, as long as you go to sleep and promise to abstain from anymore outbursts."

"Get the hell out," Margaret growled, wishing she was able to shove him forcefully out of the room. She desperately wanted to throw something. The young doctor scurried out of the room, wondering why he had to have such difficult, dramatic patients.


	22. Chapter 22

Don't you love me? I bet everyone is barely conscious from the shock... I updated TWICE in one day! It's amazing. lol. Oh, and I lied. There will be ONE MORE chapter after this. and then it's finsihed!!!

* * *

"Hey sexy."

Before Margaret even opened her eyes she knew it was him. There wasn't anyone else with that voice, or that smell…or calling her sexy as she lay in a hospital bed, for that matter.

"Damn those indolent nurses," Margaret spat, as she looked at the tall, dark-haired man through her glazed, feverish eyes. "_Don't let him in,_ one very simple request and they can't fulfill it."

"Oh, don't blame them, how could they resist Danny's charms? He seems to think the sling makes the ladies swoon…I'm inclined to think he's right." Hawkeye grinned and scooted his chair closer to her bedside. Margaret realized at that moment that he was holding her hand firmly. She attempted to pull away but her arm was far too weak.

"Danny's here?" she asked, with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Don't worry," Hawkeye said with a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "He's not allowed in."

"A sling?" Margaret stared at her husband in shock. She couldn't even imagine what was wrong with the child. The last she had seen him he was crying as he ran upstairs to his bedroom. What on earth had happened?

"His arm's broken," Hawkeye informed her bluntly. "He decided to be the gallant hero that I refused to be and so he went looking for you." Margaret cringed at that point, knowing that was just one more thing Hawkeye could stack up against her.

"I found him and tried to bring him home. He was hit by a car as he jumped from my car." Margaret gasped and then began coughing violently.

"He's okay," Hawkeye said repeatedly as he stroked her hand. When her coughing subsided Margaret glared at him angrily.

"Get out," she ordered.

Hawkeye shook his head and squeezed her hand cautiously. "Not a chance, baby."

"I don't want your pity," she seethed. "The last thing you told me was to be out of town by morning. I tried."

"Cliff Miller said he pulled you out of the drink. Were you trying to swim to New York?"

"I couldn't afford a boat." Margaret closed her eyes, indicating that she wasn't going to discuss the subject anymore.

"Maybe it is guilt," Hawkeye admitted to her. "I know that's what you're thinking. But it's not for the reasons you think. I feel guilty because I realize how damn wrong I was."

"You seemed pretty sure of yourself last night." She spat.

"That was four nights ago," Hawkeye said softly. "You were awake then, do you remember?" Margaret said nothing and Hawkeye took a nervous breath, knowing Erica would kill him for this if he ever saw her again. "You were talking to Erica that night." Margaret's eyes opened as the color drained from her face.

"I found the number of a James Warden in your purse. I called him." Margaret's face remained emotionless, her gaze locked on the ceiling. Hawkeye began to stroke her hand softly. "Why didn't you just tell me, Margaret?"

Her mouth opened slightly and Hawkeye watched her lips moving soundlessly as she tried to formulate an answer. She still refused to look at him so Hawkeye moved onto her bed and put his face directly into her gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me you had been looking for him?" Hawkeye's face was all seriousness. Margaret had no choice but to reply.

"You wouldn't have believed me."

"So you didn't trust me?" Hawkeye scowled and went back to his chair.

"I did trust you," Margaret argued wearily. The room was beginning to spin again so she closed her eyes. "I trusted you to be consistently mistrustful." She groaned as her body began to ache. She attempted to shift her body and then winced at the effort.

"Fine," Hawkeye crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll admit that I found it a little hard to believe you had been looking for him for six years, even after I heard it from the Warden himself. But I would have been convinced if you had shown up after he was born."

Margaret stifled a cry as her right arm began to burn. Hawkeye stood up and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" she was ashamed to admit to herself that she was scared to be left alone.

"You need more meds" he stated bluntly as he walked out the door.

"Get back in here, Pierce, now!" Margaret shouted as loudly as she could. Hawkeye stuck his head back inside the room and looked at her oddly. "No drugs," Margaret insisted firmly.

"It's going to make it ten times more painful, Hawkeye warned as he made his way back to his chair.

"Fifty actually," Margaret closed her eyes and placed all her concentration on breathing. "It's nothing I don't deserve."

Hawkeye shot her a startled look. "What are you talking about?"

"I gave up," Margaret's eyes had turned a dark, deep blue, and they were filled to the brim with shame. "I hate myself for that. It was so weak."

"I had no right to take your son from you." Hawkeye told her seriously. "He needs his mother."

"Not a mother like me. I just run at the first sign of trouble." She quoted his angered speech from four nights ago.

"I was wrong about that too," he apologized.

"Then how did I end up like this?"

"I guess it proves how much he means to you." Hawkeye offered a smile but Margaret refused to acknowledge it. There was a knock on the doorjamb and a nurse entered, ushering a small figure wrapped in blue surgical clothing from head to toe.

"Mommy!" the blue bundle ran to Margaret's bedside and forcefully removed his father's hand from Margaret's, and then replaced it with his own. He kissed it softly and Margaret smiled.

"Hello, Danny."

"You're gonna get better, aren't you?" he asked brightly. "I told them you would," he flashed a smile at the nurse who was standing at the foot of the bed.

"Of course she is," Hawkeye answered for his wife.

Margaret smiled weakly. "How's your arm?"

"I'm okay," Danny shrugged and then climbed onto his father's lap. "Your face looks like it hurts bad."

Margaret cringed, realizing how hideous she must look to a small child. "It's alright," she responded.

"Come on, Danny," the nurse urged. "I told you just long enough to say hello."

"Awww, please let me stay?" he begged, turning around to see the young woman.

"You don't want her to get in trouble do you?" Hawkeye asked his son, as he kissed the boy's cheek and scooted him off his lap.

"No." Danny gave his mother a disappointed look and kissed her hand cautiously one more time. "I love you, Mommy." He told her sweetly.

"I love you too, baby," she whispered, blowing him a kiss. Danny bounced out of the room and Margaret shut her eyes tightly.

Hawkeye thought it was because of the pain, but a few moments later he spotted tears slipping down the sides of her cheeks. He wiped them away gently before Margaret began to speak.

"Do you know when I first saw him?" she asked her husband hesitantly.

"Right after they wiped the slime off I suppose," Hawkeye responded lightly as he picked up her hand once again.

"Such eloquence." She opened her eyes and gave him a haunted look. "The first time I saw him was in the ice cream shop two—er—six days ago. I knew it had to be him the second he walked through those doors. He looks exactly like you, ya know that?"

"He has your eyes," Hawkeye mumbled.

"Yeah," Margaret sighed. "I caught that."

"What happened? In the hospital I mean."

Margaret rolled her eyes. "I doesn't matter—"

"Please," he interrupted. "I want to know."

"I was working at a hospital at the time. My boss kept telling me he was going to fire me soon if I didn't quit. But I needed the money; I couldn't stop working until it was absolutely necessary. There were several cases of pneumonia and I guess I caught it. I was in the hospital for two weeks and then I went into labor. I don't even remember it. I vaguely remember when Danny was born. Mt fever was pretty high so I don't remember much. But I do remember they wouldn't let me near him, probably because I was so sick, but I didn't remember it at the time. I woke up two weeks later and they told me I had started hemorrhaging and my heart stopped twice." Margaret stopped as she saw Hawkeye's look of horror.

"Well, there you go. Don't forget _you asked._"

"Why were you working as a waitress?" he persisted.

"When I was well enough I stared back to work. They had taken Danny long before I even gained consciousness, but I'm sure you knew that. I started having nightmares; about Danny and the war. I just couldn't handle being in a hospital."

"How would you feel about working in a private practice?" Hawkeye asked with a soft smile.

Margaret frowned. "No," she said simply as she closed her eyes.

"Why not? I love you, babe."

Margaret smiled at Hawkeye's _trust-me-I'm-serious_ look. "I know you feel guilty, and maybe even a little regretful. Hell, so do I, but we can't be in the same town, Hawk, it won't work." She hadn't through the statement would bring tears to her eyes but she was proven wrong and she put all her effort into controlling the water flow.

"We can live happily ever after, baby." Hawkeye cupped his hand around her chin and kissed her lips softly.

"No we can't. We can't work together, it's just not practical—"

"I don't necessarily want to work with you," he cut her off. "I want to live with you." He leaned forward so his face was only inches from hers. "I want to take long midnight walks with you along the beach. I want us both to go with Danny to the fair. I want to make love to you on a freezing winter day—"

"It seems that I won't be walking anywhere for quite a while," he hastily stopped him.

Hawkeye grinned and kissed her forehead. "Well that's good."

"That my legs are broken?"

"No," he kissed her lips softly, and then dipped in for seconds. The kiss was so passionate and yet so gentle that Margaret began to cry softly. "That I can still turn you on."


	23. Chapter 23

ONE YEAR LATER

Benifit Dinner at Providence Hospital

* * *

Margaret leaned heavily against Hawkeye's arm as her legs began to grow weary. He wrapped his arm tightly around her waist although he continued his conversation with the couple in front of them. She could feel his thumb rubbing the silky black fabric of her dress and she shivered.

She spotted a familiar face in the crowd and blushed, avoiding eye contact. "Margaret!" Erica Johnson, dressed in a deep, sapphire blue gown, quickly made her way over to the couple. Margaret felt an unusual flare of jealously and she quickly checked herself.

"How are you?" Erica asked warmly, clasping both of Margaret's hands. "Oh, why should I bother asking? You look wonderful!"

"Thank you," Margaret said sincerely. Hawkeye smiled at Erica, the woman certainly did look beautiful. He glanced to his left, where Margaret was standing and all thoughts of Erica's blue gown left his mind. She had her blonde hair piled high atop her head and she was dressed in a slinky black dress, with a halter top, and a plunging neckline, Margaret's gown left only one thing on Hawkeye's mind.

He was so absorbed with his wife's attire he entirely missed what Erica had just said. "What was that?"

She laughed and gave Margaret a knowing smile. "He's rather preoccupied with your dress, isn't he?" Margaret chuckled and gave Hawkeye a warning look.

"I said I'm glad you decided to stop acting like an idiot," Erica repeated to Hawkeye. He nodded and gave Margaret a concerned glance as he saw he sway slightly.

"Are you here alone?" Hawkeye asked her as he wrapped a supporting arm around Margaret's waist again.

"No," she gave him a genuine smile. "I'm here with my fiancé."

"Fiancé! That's fantastic!" Hawkeye leaned over and gave her a warm hug. Erica blushed slightly and shrugged.

"We getting married in less than a month," Erica turned her attention to Margaret. "So claws in, Mrs. Pierce. I'm about to be a happily married woman."

Margaret flushed hotly and shook her head violently. "I wasn't—"

"No use denying it," Erica teased her. Margaret relented and smiled as her blush resided. Her legs were growing increasingly weak so she grabbed onto Hawkeye shoulder firmly to help herself stand.

Hawkeye shot his wife a worried look. "You okay?" he whispered. Margaret nodded and smiled brightly.

"It was nice seeing you both," Erica said quickly, noting Margaret's pale face. She leaned over and hugged the ex-Major quickly and then did the same to Hawkeye.

"I'm glad you decided to stop being such a stubborn ass," she whispered in his ear. He smiled.

"So am I."

* * *

Margaret lay comfortably in Hawkeye's arms as he stroked the small of her back. "Can I take your dress off now?" he whispered impatiently as he nibbled on her ear. Margaret pulled her head away and shook her head.

"I'm so tired, Hawk." She rolled onto her side and smiled at her husband. "Tell your hormones to wait."

"After you paraded around in front of me in that all night?" he asked in horror. "I think you picked it out just to torture me."

"What other reason could I possibly have?" she asked sarcastically, as she kissed him softly.

"Fine," he relented. "Let's go to sleep, but I'm only giving up because you had me so worried tonight."

Margaret chuckled cynically and rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly fine, Hawkeye. I was just standing for too long."

"You almost fell over in the middle of a waltz with the Chief of Staff at Providence Hospital!"

"I just needed to sit down," she mumbled in embarrassment. Hawkeye smiled and propped himself up with his elbow. Margaret felt a wave of lust wash over her as she looked at his bare chest rising and falling with each breath. She slowly pushed him onto his back and kissed him passionately. His arms wrapped around her body as he reached for the zipper in the back of her dress.

"Mommy, you're home!" Margaret jerked upright as Danny bounced into the room, onto the bed and threw his arms around her neck.

"You're supposed to be in bed," Hawkeye complained.

"You look so pretty!" he told Margaret as he flopped onto his back; completely ignoring Hawkeye's statement.

"I thought so too," Hawkeye grumbled. Margaret laughed and kissed Hawkeye quickly.

"Sorry, Daddy," she told him as she crawled off the side of the bed.

"Come on, Danny I'll tuck you in bed."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Danny?"

"I won't keep her too long." Hawkeye laughed loudly as Margaret led Danny out of the room. She opened the door of his room and he climbed into bed.

"I love you, Mommy," he told her as he hugged her and kissed her cheek.

Margaret kissed him back and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

"I know," he said softly as he settled back onto his pillow.

"Know what?" Margaret straightened the blanket around his shoulders and then laid her hand across his chest.

"I know you love me lots."

Margaret smiled and kissed his forehead. "You bet I do." She stood up and made her way back to the bedroom, kicking her heels off in the hallways as she walked.

"Hello beautiful," Hawkeye greeted as she shut the door firmly behind her. She unzipped her dress and climbed into bed before slipping it off.

"You have got to stop being so self-conscious," Hawkeye chastened.

"They're ugly," Margaret mumbled, referring to the numerous surgical scars that covered her torso and legs.

Hawkeye laughed and pulled her close. "You have no idea how much I love you," he whispered, kissing behind her ear. "I think I'm going to have to make love to you."

"Hawk—" Margaret began to protest but was cut off by a long, deep kiss.

He broke it off and smiled down at her. "I couldn't live without you," he whispered.

"No," she corrected with a smile. "You couldn't live without sex. You could do just fine without me."

"Well considering I need you for that I can't live without you." He grinned and began nipping at her ear once again. Margaret giggled and scooted away.

"I always knew it!" Hawkeye exclaimed.

"What?"

"I always knew one day I would get you to giggle."

"I didn't giggle," Margaret said defensively. Hawkeye laughed and kissed her again.

"You're wrong. I could live without the sex. I wouldn't _want_ to. But I _could." _He pulled her as close to his body as possible and buried his nose into her sweet-smelling hair.

"But I could never live without you."

* * *

_Hawkeye and Margaret celebrated a total of 37 years together. Danny moved to Italy and studied cooking for three years. Upon his return he opened a restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts. It wasn't quite the job as a waiter he had insisted he wanted, but it was close enough for his father to tease him about. _

_Shortly after Margaret's 68__th__ birthday she was diagnosed with leukemia. After two years of treatments she passed away in her husband's arms. She was buried on June 1__st__, 1990. True to his word, Hawkeye Pierce couldn't live without his lovely wife by his side. He died in his sleep three weeks later. The doctor's said it was of old age, but those closest to him knew he had died of broken heart. _

* * *

Well there's my ending. I hope everyone enjoyed it! (It certainly took me long enough to write. haha) A Million thanks to all my faithful reviewers...you are all too numerous to name (and I might be a tad lazy). Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's all your wonderful reviews that keep me writting!


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